This is the incredible Byzantine Hagia Sophia. It served 916 years as a church and 481 years as a mosque and has been a museum since 1935. To see a Christian church with Islamic touches like the minarets is really bizarre. But it is proof positive that the two worlds, Christians & Muslems, can live in harmony under one roof and in one country.
At night time the mosque just glowed yellow and gold. At the Blue Mosque, across the square, I had to wear a scarf over my head in order to enter and we all had to remove our shoes. Despite the washing of the feet before entering, it still was a bit stinky inside.
This beautiful cistern lies beneath the city, near the Hagia. The famous roman aqueducts brought water here. Between the lights and the soft music playing, we were enchanted.
We left the cool underground and went back up to the heat, to the "New Mosque" down by the seaside. This time we didn't go in. I watched the woman, fully clothed in black (with long sleeves and long pants and COATS, with their heads covered) go into the segregated part of the mosque to pray. I felt my dander go up a bit. Granted the woman don't have to wear the Burkah like they enforce in Afghanistan, but I still felt for these woman whose fathers or husbands made them cover up (so only their hands and faces were exposed) in public. Not all woman wear head scarves in Istanbul on the street, I would say more than half don't, so that is why I felt the unfairness for those woman who had be completely covered to on such a hot summer day. But the hopeful part is that maybe one day all the woman can enjoy the freedom of ponytails and shorts and flip flops if Turkey gets excepted into the EU.
Notice these men are comfortable in short sleeves, uncovered heads, not really serious about washing their feet before they go inside the mosque to pray.
The spice Bazaar was nearby the mosque and of course we had to stop in.
I insisted on getting Turkish delight, (yummy jelly candy) saffron and curry. The infusion of smells here was heavenly.
I wanted to go back home and try to duplicate their meatballs and grilled meat. The man helping us kept heaping up the spices and I spent way too much money, so don't be surprised if you get a spice packet in the mail :0)
At night time the mosque just glowed yellow and gold. At the Blue Mosque, across the square, I had to wear a scarf over my head in order to enter and we all had to remove our shoes. Despite the washing of the feet before entering, it still was a bit stinky inside.
This beautiful cistern lies beneath the city, near the Hagia. The famous roman aqueducts brought water here. Between the lights and the soft music playing, we were enchanted.
We left the cool underground and went back up to the heat, to the "New Mosque" down by the seaside. This time we didn't go in. I watched the woman, fully clothed in black (with long sleeves and long pants and COATS, with their heads covered) go into the segregated part of the mosque to pray. I felt my dander go up a bit. Granted the woman don't have to wear the Burkah like they enforce in Afghanistan, but I still felt for these woman whose fathers or husbands made them cover up (so only their hands and faces were exposed) in public. Not all woman wear head scarves in Istanbul on the street, I would say more than half don't, so that is why I felt the unfairness for those woman who had be completely covered to on such a hot summer day. But the hopeful part is that maybe one day all the woman can enjoy the freedom of ponytails and shorts and flip flops if Turkey gets excepted into the EU.
Notice these men are comfortable in short sleeves, uncovered heads, not really serious about washing their feet before they go inside the mosque to pray.
The spice Bazaar was nearby the mosque and of course we had to stop in.
I insisted on getting Turkish delight, (yummy jelly candy) saffron and curry. The infusion of smells here was heavenly.
I wanted to go back home and try to duplicate their meatballs and grilled meat. The man helping us kept heaping up the spices and I spent way too much money, so don't be surprised if you get a spice packet in the mail :0)Four days in Istanbul was sufficient after waking up every morning at 4 am while the Mullah sang his dissonant LOUD prayer call right outside our window on minaret speakers. I would love to go back and visit other parts of Turkey, visit the Black Sea and Ephesus, and see other Roman ruins. But for now, it was eye opening to see first hand the Muslim culture up close and in a forum were they don't hate westerners. The people were very friendly and kind. When we flew out, I felt gratitude and thanked my lucky stars to have been born an American, and to live in a country that does not hate women and to have a religion that promotes tolerance and love for everyone--no matter their religion.
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