After getting off to a fairly rough start on our first travel day, we got a good night's sleep and were up and out early enough to beat the mad rush of tourists heading to Istanbul's main sights--Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. We had about an hour to kill between 8 and 9 because I'd gotten the wrong opening hours for the mosques off of the internet, so we wandered around the Sultanahmet area and enjoyed the quiet and the feeling of having the city to ourselves.
I'd purchased our Hagia Sophia tickets online, so a little before 9, we got in line, but were able to skip right past the herd of people buying tickets and were among the first few people in the mosque. We stood at the entrance for a few minutes, in absolute awe, then as people started trickling in I jolted Colby into photography action so we could get a few shots before the place filled up. This was the first mosque I'd ever been inside, and I've got to tell you, it set the bar pretty darn high. Between the rings of light floating in space, the gold leaf paintings, and the light filtering through the windows high above us, the whole place seemed to glow with a mystical aura. It was just one more of those travel experiences when I could not believe I was experiencing such an amazing piece of history.
After spending a little over an hour wandering around Hagia Sophia, we walked around the corner to the Basilica Cistern (sometimes called the Underground Cistern). This cistern was built in the 6th century AD, replacing what had been an enormous basilica built between 300 and 400 AD. The cistern is capable of holding up to 2.8 million cubic feet of water, though now the water depth is only a couple of feet. The columns are all thought to be repurposed from other ancient Roman structures. There are also two Medusa heads beneath columns in one of the corners of the cistern, and no one is quite sure where they came from or why they're there. It was a pretty impressive feat of engineering, and although it doesn't seem like there was much to see--just some columns and water--the cistern was lit up beautifully and there was haunting music playing over loudspeakers, making for quite the experience.
Next up was the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, or as it's commonly known to tourists, the Blue Mosque, after the beautiful blue tiles decorating the interior. Because Hagia Sophia has been converted into a museum and is no longer an active mosque, visitors aren't asked to observe the religious customs of removing their shoes and keeping their heads, knees and shoulders covered, however, the Blue Mosque is still a functioning mosque, so it was my very first time wearing a head scarf. In a way, I felt like observing those customs added something authentic to the experience. The exterior of the mosque was astoundingly graceful, with its cascading domes, and the interior was much more light and airy than Hagia Sophia. You could definitely tell that it had been built much later--between 1606 and 1616.
After we had packed all of that sightseeing into the morning hours, we were pretty hungry, and it just so happened that there was a McD's right by our metro stop. So, continuing our silly tradition of eating at McDonald's in every country we visit, we headed inside to see what McMeals Turkey had thought up. So of course, Colby ended up with a McTurko--a hamburger in a pita!!! After lunch, we made our way to Eminonu pier to buy our tickets for a two hour Bosphorous cruise. The Bosphorous is the main waterway to the Black Sea for a number of countries, including Turkey, Russia, the Ukraine and more, so it is always incredibly busy and its shores have been incredibly built up over the centuries. There are palaces, mansions, fortresses, mosques, and parks, as well as a sight of the Asian side of Istanbul.
Our final stop for the day was at the Spice Market, which was just such a perfectly Turkish experience. We wandered through small alleys jam-packed with flora and fauna. Everything from kittens to peacocks to pigeons to leeches and any kind of plant seed you can imagine. Once we entered the main market building, we were confronted with exactly what you would expect, stall after stall of vendors selling the most fragrant, colorful spices and teas, and of course, lokum or Turkish Delight. By the time we finished exploring the market and ate dinner, I was pretty dead on my feet, so it was back to the hotel to rest up for day three in Istanbul!
What an exciting trip, the pictures are breathtaking!
Posted by: reccewife | August 28, 2012 at 09:06 PM
absolutely loving your pictures, looks and sounds like a fabulous trip!
Posted by: katelin | August 29, 2012 at 01:16 AM
Wow your photos are amazing. And i love your dress! So cute. That mosque is amazing and that spice market looks like heaven!
Posted by: Jessica | August 29, 2012 at 02:51 AM
Thank you so much! All credit has to go to my husband for the photos--Im the kind of girl who shoots on auto with a DSLR ;)
Posted by: Angela Noelle | August 29, 2012 at 11:39 AM
Wow. Wow. Wow. Those mosques are so stunning! And the Spice Market looks crazy and cool.
But is it bad that even though this post is filled with wondrous things (Holy Cow - isn't Hagia Sofia one of the 7 wonders of the world?) I've got your pink flats on my brain?
Dish. Were they comfy?
Posted by: Molly | September 01, 2012 at 10:23 PM