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Check out all of the lıghts
The Rotarıan who was our tour guıde thıs day owned thıs hotel... ıt had thousands of lıght fıxtures throughout the lobby and each of the rooms! I kınd of lıked ıt5/20/08 Istanbul
We met at the hotel of a local Rotarian. He had hundreds of light fixtures throughout the hotel and at his restaurant, The Fish House. At first it seemed like a bit much, but I think that it would be cool at night. We ate lunch at his restaurant. We had fish soup for an appetizer and a whole fish (head and all) for our entrée. I had the waiter clean mine and take the head off. I saw a picture of what I ordered after I ordered it… otherwise I might have made a different choice like chicken kabob.
Today we visited the “Blue Mosque” that is only called that by the tourist because of its many blue tiles on the interior of the mosque. When they were building the mosque the “best” local artists designed and painted a set of tiles. The variety in the design can be seen in the balcony part of the mosque which is also where the women pray. Before entering the mosque one must wash their hands, feet and face either at home of in the fountain that is located outside the mosque. It was built in the year 527.
*Note:
The Blue Mosque
Its called the Blue Mosque by tourısts because most of the tıles on the ınterıor are mostly blue all mosques point towards Mecca
On the way to the museum there was a huge __________ that had hieroglyphics on it and was a gift from Egypt. The Museum of Turkish and Islamic art was full of historical pieces that were found through excavations. Some of the artifacts are thought to be from before Christ’s birth.
Hagia Sophia was originally a Christian church. Later it was turned into a mosque. Under the rule of the much admired Ataturk it was turned into a museum because he said there were enough other mosques and this building belonged to the Christians. We were able to see original mosaics of Christ and Mary. The entire place has mosaic artwork hidden under the plaster that was applied when it was changed from a church to a mosque. Removing the plaster is a meticulous process that is risky because often the tiles are damaged. They have been restoring this building for 15 years already and they still have a LONG way to go. *note: Christian churches point towards Jerusalem.
After lunch we went to the Grand Bazaar. It is the largest covered bazaar in the world. It has 64 streets and over
5000 shops. As you can guess most of them were full of junk, but some had some good things for cheap. We must have had AMERICAN TOURISTS written on our forehead because every shop owner tried to talk to us in English and get us to look at the things in their shop. The haggling got old really quick!!! We didn’t have long to shop today so we will have to go back another day.
We were all TIRED by this point in the day, but still had one more thing that we wanted to get done… calligraphy writing. The Rotarian that acted as our tour guide for the day knew a local artist who is well known in Turkey. He did really beautiful work effortlessly.
We will be traveling 5 hours to Kutahya tomorrow then 7 hours the next day to The Susesi De Luxe Resort and Spa in Antalya. Google the resort and see how nice it is!!! We are all TIRED and need some down time.
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Heather
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The Sophia museum must has been fabulous seeing the mosiacs. Wow! The fish looked yucky with the head still attached. You are so brave! I hope it tasted good. You have had to have such an open mind. You are awesome. It sounds as if everyone is getting tired and ready to come home. Soon, very soon. Just day dream of that fabulous spa resort. I looked it up on line - it's incredible! It will be well worth the wait once you get there. I love seeing your pictures and reading your blog. Hang in there and have fun. Love ya!