Amazing History!

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Yesterday was such an amazing day. We decided to take a planned tour to help us get our feet wet and give us a guided overview of what the old city was about. The old Constantinople was a walled city and we are staying within these walls in our wondeful hotel. We are about 2 blocks from the old center of the city where the hippodrome was. The hippodrome was a circular stadium where races and cultural events and ceremonies took place. Off of this street is also where the huge and incredibly beautiful Aya Sofia and Blue Mosques are located.

The Aya Sofia is over 1500 years old and was a Greek Orthodox church; the greatest in the world for a 1000 years. St.Peter's Basillica usurped this glory. It has numerous tiny gold mosaic tiles united in detailed pictures representing Christianity. Even though it was turned into a mosque in the 1400's, the great Ataturk declared it a national treasure and museum for all in 1934. What is so special about the Aya Sofia is its long standing history and the fact that it is still so well preserved and still standing after all of the earthquakes, take-overs and pillaging. Paul and I love the feeling of the history that the places we visited impart. One gets such a feeling for the people of the world over time, and what things must have been like, and thus, what they are like even now.

We saw 2 other major mosques (Blue Mosque and Sulymaniye) and one minor one (Kariye) that had been a Byzantine (Christian) church. The Kariye mosque is now a museum and it also has the best mosaics in the city. Did I mention that the mini golden tiles create an awesome vision? We truly stood in awe of these scene depicitons. Something that I have never seen before anywhere, is the birth of Virgin Mary being depicted. It showed Mary's mother being told she was pregnant, whispering in her husbands ear and then Mary being born and scenes of her life as a little girl. Unique. We will have to buy a book to get a good representation of the mosaics, because I don't think that our camera will do them justice.

Even though we haven't bought anything (YET), we did quickly visit the Grand Bazaar and had great memories of Moroccan souks. We scouted out some gold bracelets and earrings and they have pashminas everywhere. Does anyone know how much a 100% pashmine shall should cost? I think that one guy was asking about $6. How can that be real? There is great leather and mom, a purse will not be difficult. Something that I am planning to buy instead of a Turkish rug, is a Turkish rug purse! Far more useful!

The food so far is very good. Our first night in the hotel was the best and we look forward to many more. We haven't had any baklava, but the Sarnic Hotel is providing us with pieces of Turkish Delight that we are taking full advantage of. A definite must to bring home. Speaking of food, I am off to a cooking class right now where I learn from 2 chef's how to cook turkish dishes.

AND me, I will go on a walk and discover new treasures of our neighborhood and along the way - get a haircut and shave. The joys of being on exotic holidays.

Merhaba to you all.

Pictures will be added later as I still need to find a reliable new computer.

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