Istanbul Day 3

Hagia Sophia

We are up and out shortly after 8am in order to have a better placement in line for the 9am opening of the Hagia Sophia Mosque. Getting there st 8:30am the line really snakes around the square in front of the mosque and is hundreds of people long and continues to expand quickly behind us. It starts to move ever so slowly at 9am.

Due to renovations, we could only visit the main floor. This mosque started out as a church when it was built in 537, then converted to a mosque in 1453, then turned into a museum in 1935 and in recently turned back into a mosque.

My favourite part are the ancient Byzantine mosaics.

Blue Mosque

We make our way across the Sultanahemet Park to the Blue Mosque built in 1616. There is hardly any line to get in. And we soon find out why, it is under renovation so there is not a lot to see inside.

Four Seasons Hotel

Emily wants to see the nearby Four Seasons Hotel which used to be a prison. It is one of the Four Seasons top rated hotels. Emily and I take the opportunity to use the ladies room and it’s lovely hand lotion. We even spritz ourselves with the available perfume.

Hippodrome

Beside the Blue Mosque is what remains of the huge Hippodrome which held 100,000 for chariot races. Two obelisks pillaged from war campaigns are all that remain but the space occupied by the race track remains as a long plaza. The Hippodrome was the original site of the huge sculpture of the Four Horses before they were pillaged by the Crusaders and taken to Venice where the horses still remain.

Aquaduct

John leads us towards the ancient Roman Valens Aqueduct. This takes about an hour of which he often stops to consult his map.

Waterfront

Emily and I are wildly famished when we get to the aqueduct. We take a couple pictures before walking 30 minutes to the waterfront where I immediately run to a boat and buy a fish sandwich…it is gone in seconds.

We stop at one of the seafood restaurants in the lower part of the bridge for lunch. From our table I can see the ornate boats that cook the fish for the sandwiches, tied to the dock.

Archeological Museum

Rested, we head over to the Archeological Museum…which is near the Topkapi Palace…more walking.

The Archeological Museum is interesting, especially the Greek, Roman and Egyptian exhibits. Unfortunately the building with the Ishtar Gate built by King Nebuchadnezzar II is closed for renovation. We still enjoy the main building, the tiled pavilion and the sculptured garden.

Park and the Egyptian Market

Near the Archeological Museum is a really pretty park which we check out before heading for coffee near the Egyptian Market (spice market).

We had walked through the spice market on our way home last night so we didn’t spend too long there on our way to the Whirling Dirvish show.

Whirling Dirvish Show

The Whirling Dirvishes are a sect of Islam called Sufism where men spin themselves into a spiritual trance. The show was not what we expected. Photos and video were not allowed. In the show five men in long flowing robes whirled for 40 minutes. Whirling and whirling and whirling. We got dizzy watching them. I must have been tired because I dozed for a quarter of the show. It was interesting to learn about their religion but 10 minutes of whirling would have been sufficient.

John looked up directions to make our way home. Today I walked over 30,000 steps according to my Fitbit.

We pack tonight and leave the apartment at 3:30am (aghhhh) to catch our morning flight to Tel Aviv.