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Published: September 2nd 2009
2nd country - Turkey... I met a man while we were there who when he knew I was English (not that hard to spot!) said "Welcome to Paradise"... I'm not sure I would go that far, but Istanbul really is an amazing city. According to my sister, there's a list called "100 Things to See Before you Die" and a load of them are in Istanbul (probably should have found out what they were before we went!)
On the first afternoon we toured the Grand Bazaar which is the world's oldest shopping mall. 4,500 shops vying for your attention can be a bit overwhelming (and we got lost several times) but it's great fun. Although I have to say that I don't feel nearly so keen to buy the lovely lamps and carpets knowing I've got to cart them around on my back for the rest of the year (great cure for retail therapy!)
Second day was a busy one - first was a tour of the Agya Sophia which was a church then was converted into a mosque. Was so interesting, have included some of the facts we were told at the end of this Blog entry for
anyone who's bothered... Also did the underground cisterns and Blue Mosque.
As it was Ramadan, there was a fantastic party atmosphere every evening, especially in the park near us which after sunset (at 8) became absolutely packed with families coming out to eat, meet friends and family and generally just celebrate! It was great - stalls selling all kinds of foods, stilt-walkers, clowns etc. Felt a bit guilty sitting down to eat at 7pm next to a family who were patiently waiting with their hamper covered... The prayers are really cool (managed to sleep through the early morning ones tho B!) as they're broadcasted by microphone all over the city usually from 2 or 3 mosques at once giving a stereo effect.
The next day we did a cruise on the Bosphorus - Europe on one side, Asia on the other (wow!) but on the Thursday (our last full day) Joe came down with "Istanbelly" so I took the kids to the Topkapi Palace on my own. Saw the Harem area which was interesting and a special treasure room. However, Bella was completely unimpressed with the world's 5th biggest diamond ("I thought it would be much bigger than
that!"). Friday we had a more leisurely day posting cards and doing washing before heading to the airport and our adventures in Jordan....!
Agya Sophia Facts:
- The 2nd church (can't remember when the first one was built) was destroyed in approx 537AD after a riot at a race. The Emperor invited both sides into the Hippodrome (which is now the park I mentioned above) supposedly to "sort it out" but locked the doors and sent his soldiers in to kill 35,000 of them (roughly half the population of the city) Nice!
- The 3rd and current church was built in less than 6 years. Its dome was the biggest for 1,000 years (now 6th behind Vatican, St Paul's, St Mark's in Venice etc)
- used special red clay as mortar for the walls which expands as it dries, and fresh water which they knew is lighter than salt
- the pillars are made of porphyry from Egypt which is extremely strong. They also added a bronze base with a layer of soft lead which gives slightly, thus making it earthquake proof
- there were 30mn mosaic tiles!!
- the Muslims plastered over the mosaics and icons which
actually helped preserve them. Their mihib (sp?) or holy niche points towards Mecca so is not central in the nave which points to Jerusalem! The discs with Mohammed and his sons' names on are the world's biggest Arabic writing (25ft diameter) and must have been made inside as they are too big to get out the doors
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Sounds amazing...
glad you're all managing to sleep through the early morning prayers!! Hope Joe has recovered and we're not jealous at all as we sit here with the wind howling and the rain lashing down... Look forward to the next installment!! bx