The Hagia Sophia

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Another beautiful day - warm and clear and in the 70s. I started it off by walking down to Sultanahmet, which is a large square right in front of the Blue Mosque. The square was actually built as a Roman race track, and has two huge obelisks. One is actually from Egypt and has a base that shows off King Theodosius (which was cool to me at least because I remember studying it at DU).

Then I walked over to the church/mosque that's the entire reason I came to Istanbul in the first place: the Hagia Sophia, or the Church of the Holy Wisdow. This is an absolutely massive building. It was first built in the 6th Century AD, and was the largest Christian building in the world for nearly 1,000 years! It felt like stepping into St. Peter's in Rome. What makes this church so incredible, though, is the dome. It literally feels like it's floating because of the way it was built. I honestly just sat there for over an hour and just looked up and around. An awesome experience. My art history professor would be proud.

I continued at the Archeological Museum, where the most important pieces are the Alexander Sacophagus and the Weeping Women Sacophagus. The first isn't Alexander's tomb (no one knows where that is), but it does show some beautiful carvings that depict events from his life. The museum also has a wonderful bust of Alexander the Great. One thing, though - the museum is oddly put together. Some rooms just dead-end for no reason, and you have to back-track (which is a bad thing in any museum).

I also went to the Grand Bazaar, the world's oldest mall, but the place was packed and the vendors were trying to screw over every tourist with their prices, so I left. I ended with another kabob for dinner and a coffee on the terrace at the hotel, which looks out on the Bosphorus Strait. A great day.

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