The city of Constantinople

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Ok, so this is my first REAL travel blog, written from someplace other than Calgary. I arrived in Istanbul with no issues, proceeded to check in, and went right to the rooftop patio of my hostel to take in the most georgous view of Istanbul that you will ever see (see posted photos for verification). After having a shower, I went out and had a fabulous meal of beef kabobs, tomato sauce, yogurt, and 2 cokes (I tend to drink even more coke while travelling than I do at home. I know many people may find that hard to imagine). After that I effectively went to bed, since I'd been awake for over 24 hours at that point, what with travelling and all.

This morning, I got up and had breakfast with this american guy who was the most left wing american I've ever met in my life. He had come from Syria, and had bought himself a Hezbollah T-shirt as a point of pride, and outright refused to go to Israel, as a political protest. Backpackers can be so hilarous sometimes, but I'm sure I'll meet more people like that as I go along.

Anyway, I proceeded to go to the Aya Sofia, since while I've been there before, I have for some reason never taken pictures of the inside, so I did that today. For those who don't know the history of it, it was built sometime around 530 AD, and until 1453 was the largest and most important church in the world, it being located in Constantinople, which at the time was the capital of the Byzantine Empire, then the largest Christian empire in the world. But then in 1453 the city was conqured by the Turks, the Aya Sofia was turned into a mosque, and for a while after that was the largest mosque in the world. The inside of the church was plastered over with Islamic artwork, but about 80 years ago Ataturk turned it into a museum. Since then they've been taking down the Islamic plastering to reveal the Christian tile artwork underneath, which is quite amazing. I took a few photos of the Christian artwork, which I think is very cool. So yeah, that's it for now, I most again later, maybe from Cannakale, or further south.

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Photos

Aya Sofia at night
View from the top of the Orient Hostel. Istanbul is such a beautiful city

Inside of Aya Sofia 1
Christian tile art of Jesus and Mary, and two other people (more research required)

Inside of Aya Sofia 2
This one didn't withstand the test of time and Islamic plastering as well as others. I think this one is of Jesus, Mary and John the Baptist.

Inside of Aya Sofia 3
Islamic artwork at ground level