cheaper than water

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over the weekend i went with a couple of friends to sultanumet, the old part of istnabul where byzantium was first located and then constantinopole after that. it is full of history and character, containing the blue mosque, haggia sophia, topkapi palace, the cistern, grand bazaar, spice bazaar, hippodrome, and many other historic mosques and such. it is quite an amazing place and we spent the whole day there walking around and seeing some of it. i skipped topkapi palace because it takes a whole day by itself so i will need to return for just that. i also skipped the cistern since my friends had already done it. it didn't matter though because what we saw was pretty impressive on its own.

the blue mosque is one of the most impressive buildings i have ever seen. first of all it is massive and it was built about 500 years ago. we went inside, removing our shoes because it is forbidden to walk on the carpets with shoes on. Lynda borrowed a head scarf to cover up and prevent all of us from getting stoned. it is still a working mosque so there were people in there praying while we were in there but it was not during an official prayer time. they won't let tourists in when it is. we did get to go into another beautiful mosque when it was and we watched them pray. it was pretty impressive but it would be more so if the massive thing was full. i would really like to see hundreds of people praying at the same time. the blue mosque is surrounded by a courtyard on one side and then you enter it and are completely amazed by its size, architechture, and decoration. the ceilings have to be over a hundred feet high, gradually falling into dome after dome, decorated with beautiful hand made tiles. the stain glass windows rival anything i have ever seen in a christian church. they are different here because they are not any specific picture of a saint or event. they are just random and beautiful. inside there is a section marked off in the back for the women to pray in. i tried to make lynda go in there but i guess the head scarf was as far as she was willing to go.

we walked around the haggia sophia because it is no longer a working mosque but a museum, so it costs money. i have been told is rather expensive for what you get so i am postponing going inside until i have seen everything else i want to see and then deciding if i have enough money. it is pretty interesting though. it started as a church and then was converted to a mosque during the reign of the ottoman empire. after its fall there was some controversy over whether or not it was a church or a mosque so ataturk decided it was neither. from now on it will be a museum. that settled it. what ataturk says goes. if only i had that power? (i mean, if everyone did what i said the world would be a better place. righ patrick?)

from there we walked over to the grand bazaar, wandering through its aisles and corridors. it is huge but somewhat surprising. i was expecting a huge building with hundreds of stalls and hundreds of turks yelling and harassing you as you walked past. instead it was a maze of corridors, aisles, and hallways full of people and that go on for ever. i was right about the turks though. they are everywhere, yelling and harassing, haggling and selling. "come here my friend, i have armani, cheaper than water." imagine a turkish accent. "you look like you want to spend money, spend it with me. what is mine is yours. your money is my money." but if you want anything, chances are you'll find it in the bazaar. but be careful, because most of it is fake.

we continued to walk around the city, going to the spize bazaar and visiting a friend coury had made on an earlier trip who hooked us up with some amazing turkish delight and apple tea. we visited a hidden mosque that is inside the spice bazaar. it is much smaller than the huge blue mosque, used mostly by locals on a day to day basis. but nevertheless it was beautiful. the third mosque we went to was similar to the blue mosque in size. it was surrounded by a cemetary. we were lucky enough to be there during prayer time so we got to witness that. there wasn't much of a turnout but it was still neat to see. we spent the end of the day sitting under a bridge coneccting istanbul over the golden horn watching the sunset and the outline of the mosques in the fading light. it was cold as hell but worth the view. it was quite a day.

my skype info is donkholliday and my cell number is 090 538 738 27 93

sandy, i am attending bogazici university...

mc does not mean marty chilcote, sorry buddy...

i could use a bigger bed...

until next time.....

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