Advertisement
Published: October 21st 2012
Edit Blog Post
Hagia Sophia
View of the Hagia Sophia from the outside It is 10pm Turkish time and I am exhausted! Mom and I arrived in Istanbul today around 2pm in the afternoon after 13 hours of traveling! I have to admit that I was thoroughly impressed with myself for actually getting a decent amount of sleep (4 hours or so?) on our red-eye from Washington Dulles to Frankfort. (I owe it to the potent combo of unlimited red wine and melatonin.) Anyway, after loading up on caffeine on our second shorter flight from Frankfort to Istanbul, Mom and I were ready to make the most out of what we had left of the day.
We met up with the rest of the gang (Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Keith, Aunt Dalia, Aunt Karen and Uncle Jeff) outside of the Hagia Sophia which is just three tram stops (aka very close - we walked back) away from our hotel in the heart of the "Old City" or Sultanahmet. I was excited to see the Hagia Sophia because I vaguely remember learning about it somewhere in high school (Art History? World Civ? I can't honestly remember) and of course everyone has said it is a must-see. Apparently, at one point in history it was the
Hagia Sophia
Inside view of old marble columns, mosaics and plaster
world's largest church for a period of 700 years. I thought this was weird considering that the only thing I remembered about it was that it was a mosque, and as it turns out, it was. For 1000 plus years it was a church and it was actually built three times (the first two times it had been destroyed due to rebellions, earthquakes, people thinking Poseidon was angry at them for choosing Christianity over paganism, etc.). Then in 1453, which was the fall of Constantinople and the beginning of Istanbul (I remember that from high school too!), it was converted to a mosque and now as of 1943 the Hagia Sophia is a museum only - not a place for worship. My point in boring you with all these historical dates/facts is that this beautiful building is really a mish-mash of a lot of different stuff. You have your columns that were taking from the ruins of the original two tries at making the church, you have marble from the 6th century, you have mosaics of Christ, you have Islamic minarets and inscriptions - it doesn't make sense, but at the same time it is really amazing. When you think
Hagia Sophia
Mosaic of Christ inside the Hagia Sophia about the fact that it has been around for over 1500 years and you think about the detail and magnitude of what went into creating this building, it really becomes awe-inspiring. Very cool building - definitely something I would recommend seeing if you are in Istanbul.
After the Hagia Sophia, Mom, Aunt Dalia, Uncle Keith, Uncle Jeff and I explored the main street leading back to our hotel. From this brief mile or so walk back to our hotel, it became obvious how much of a mix of old and new Istanbul really is. I had heard this before coming, but I was amazed at how accurate of a statement that was. You look across the street and you see a new hotel/apartment building complex next to a mosque that is probably at least 1000 years old. It really is wild. We also saw many, many vendors on the walk back with things ranging from Turkish rugs to pottery to glass mosaic lanterns - it made me really excited for our upcoming trip(s) to the Grand Bazaar.
For dinner we met up with Shahar (who is the reason we are all hear in the first place - he
Streets of Istanbul
Lantern store that is very common in Istanbul got a toast for that) and went to the restaurant called Imbat Restaurant, which was a terrace restaurant at the top of a hotel. We had a really cool view of the city at night and the Bosphorus, which is technically a strait that separates European Istanbul from Asian Istanbul. The food was absolutely delicious! We had different meze, which are basically small plates and every single one I tried was good. Grandma and I also split an artichoke and spinach "dolma" (whatever that is) that was delicious and I got chicken and steak kebab (which was not the kind of kebab you normally think of, but nevertheless it was delicious). We also got to some Turkish Delight (this one was grapefruit flavor - apparently there are many different types - I did not know this) and then headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.
That is where I am right now, so I am going to call it quits for tonight. Can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us!
Iyi geceler! (This means "good night" in Turkish, I just looked it up.)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.142s; Tpl: 0.023s; cc: 9; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0806s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Jeanie
non-member comment
Comparison: My Monday to Yours
Your Monday: Traveling across the world to begin exploring one of the most culturally rich places on earth, eating tasty and exotic foods, while drinking wine with our amazing family. My Monday: Our yoga teacher touched my tata. Verdict: ...you win