Istanbul, day 2

Saturday morning, we awoke to find pouring rain. Boo. Undeterred, we headed upstairs to eat our breakfast of omelet, and then dutifully trouped out to start our day of insane sight-seeing.

The first stop was Tokapi Castle. The former residence of the Sultan, it is a lush garden of gnarled trees and beautiful flower beds, dotted with buildings of various ages and architectural styles. The most impressive, of course, was the Harem, which also naturally cost an extra ticket to enter. We gladly darted into its maze of rooms, happy to escape the pouring rain. Each room was astoundingly ornate and beautiful, with tiled walls, gold leaf, stained-glass windows, brocaded sofas, and hanging lanterns. The hallways, by contrast, were stark, whitewashed, and bare of decoration. There were also a series of courtyards, with decorative rock pathways twining through them and painted roofs, which I managed to duck under to take pictures undisturbed by the rain.

tile work

a stone path in one of the courtyards

stained glass windows

the view from under a courtyard roof

A room that seemed to have been designed for lounging in, full of low sofas and shelves.

The castle also contained a small museum of royal caftans, some almost 500 years old, and all in beautiful condition. They have very long sleeves. We wandered into another building and discovered it was full of religious relics, such as old drain pipes from Mecca, hairs from Muhammad's beard, and, purportedly, the staff Moses used to split the Red Sea. In this room, a man chanted from the Koran over the loudspeaker, lending a special air to the whole museum full of impossible relics.

beautiful flowers, especially the strange almost-black tulips

From there we headed to the Hagia Sofia, only to be deterred by the ridiculous line for tickets. So we headed to the Blue Mosque to discover that it was, at that time, closed for prayer. So... lunch? On our way we found an Egyptian obelisk in the old Roman forum, which was amazingly intact. Amazingly. Like, I actually could not believe that it was the original. But it is. See for yourself:

How insane is this?

This square also included a column that soldiers apparently used to climb to prove their strength, and the "serpentine" column, now no longer so serpentine since, according to the guidebook, a drunken Polish nobleman knocked off the heads a few decades ago.

In the square we found a man selling home-made candy from a tray containing the most beautifully colored sweets. I had to buy one just to see it done. The visual was amazing, as the man struggled with the sticky candy to wrap it around a wooden stick. The taste was sweet and simple, with a very chewy and sticky texture.

Sitting in this park eating the candy and some roasted corn, we heard the call to prayer again. This time I got a video. Being right across the street from such a huge mosque, it was ridiculously loud, and it was echoed by another mosque a short distance away. Nothing stopped, people continued walking around and the vendors continued selling their food, and the loudspeakers blared above our collective heads.

We wandered up the street and got doner kebaps and fresh carrot juice and baklavas for lunch. Then we headed back to the Blue mosque, where we could go inside. Taking off our wet shoes and putting them into little bags, we carried them in with us. Inside it was beautiful, full of tiles and low-hanging chandeliers just above head level. The most impressive was the sense of space: it's a huge, light, airy room with no benches or chairs, or even an altar, just a plush carpet and the lights. It was so foreign to me, and I found it remarkably still.

the cascading domes of the roof and some minarets

in the mosque courtyard

lanterns and the blue tiles for which the mosque is named

We headed across the park to the Hagia Sofia. This church is so old, built in 537 AD. For over a thousand years it was the biggest cathedral in the world. It was also, naturally, undergoing reconstructive work, with massive scaffolding in the middle. Again, there was so much space in this church. The dome is 182 feet tall, and the light pours in from windows. There are mosaics everywhere, many of them in fragments. It now contains also 8 giant plaques bearing names of famous Muslim caliphs. It's just impossibly interesting, and full of history, and huge!

astoundingly beautiful and so very old

the mihrab

This is my favorite mosaic, especially because I photographed it reflected in glass. In the center is Mary, and two emperors offer her the Hagia Sofia and the city itself as gifts.

Walking and looking for a snack, we wandered into the Grand Bazaar. And grand is a good word for it, because it is huge, and full. Tiny shops have their wares spill out into the walkways, and all the vendors harrass you gently. Well, most of them gently at least! I wound up making a few purchases: a small lantern and a scarf, some earrings, a tile... I couldn't help myself, everything was so beautiful and the haggling process itself was so much fun! Then we sat in a little vine-covered garden and sipped at the omnipresent Turkish tea, which is certainly very intense! It was beautiful and peaceful, and I was happy.

tea

a view of the sunset up the street onto which we exited the Grand Bazaar

in front of a fountain, with the six minarets of the blue mosque in the background

Lyla and I shared a fish sandwich and wandered back to the hostel for an early-evening nap before dinner. Dinner was in a sort of Turkish buffet, and was tasty and over-priced. We also tried raki there, the typical Turkish beverage, like somewhat harsher ouzo. Wandering the neighborhood after dinner, we came across the sweetest little street kitten, whom I named Puha, which means soft in Hungarian. She was indeed soft and fluffy, and we had to make a great effort not to smuggle her back with us. Saying goodnight to little Puha, my eyes were shut almost before my head hit the pillow. The next day, I was going to go to Asia for the first time in my life!

Puha climbed up on our shoulders and purred away.