During ski week I went to Istanbul! The flight is only about three hours, and I took full advantage of the fact that I have cousins living there. Not only did I stay with them, but they gave me the grand tour. I loved it! My pictures can't begin to do this place justice, but I'll show you anyway.
 |
| My favorite: the Haghia Sophia; originally a church, then a mosque, now a museum |
 |
| inside the Haghia Sophia |
 |
| Field trip to the Haghia Sophia: one teacher (not shown), a couple of moms, and at least forty students...We ran into them again at the cistern. I wished so badly that I spoke Turkish; I wanted to tell the teacher how impressed I was with how well her students behaved. |
 |
| It doesn't look anything like any cistern I'd ever seen! Thanks to my cousin Lee, I saw it again that night in the James Bond movie From Russia, With Love. |
 |
| Sultanahmet Mosque ("The Blue Mosque") |
 |
| inside the Blue Mosque |
 |
| Turkey has so much history, it doesn't know what to do with all of it! These pieces were in an alley behind the Archaeological Museum and the Topkapi Palace with a sign that said "Please don't touch the artifacts!" |
 |
| Inside the Chora Church; it was built in the 11th century and decorated in the 14th |
 |
| How's this for a family tree? 24 of Jesus' ancestors are depicted in this mosaic "The Genealogy of Christ" (Chora Church) |
 |
| I forgot to mention the fabulous food! |
 |
| Spice Bazaar |
 |
| a look inside the thick walls of Constantinople |
 |
| Rumeli Fortress, built on the Bosphorus in 1452 |
 |
| There weren't any handrails in the 15th century! |
great shots!
ReplyDeleteturkey is definitely a place i wanted to visit but never got around to. looks fantastic! maybe another day-- :)
ReplyDeleteThe pictures are even more beautiful in this large format (as opposed to the Facebook slideshow). You really appreciated all that this city has to offer -- thanks for putting up with our slow pace and enjoying every day.
ReplyDelete@Lee--it's easy when you have a great subject! My favorite is the pic of Haghia Sophia taken at the restaurant.
ReplyDelete@Herspective--it's definitely worth a trip!
@Kim--it was hard to choose only a few photos!
Wonderful pics! I got to visit Istanbul just once & would love to go back. Such a beautiful mystical place and so much more of Turkey to see.
ReplyDeleteWow, nice pictures -- the first one of the Haghia Sophia is also my favorite. I'd like to go there and explore, too. When we went to Turkey a couple winters ago, we ended up in what was a total dump, hotel-wise, but extremely rich in Greco-Roman history and artifacts. We were in a lousy resort outside of Antalya, but the tours we took were fabulous — also with tons of ancient architecture just lying around on the side of the road.
ReplyDeleteWe did a side trip up into the middle of the country to Cappadocia, too -- that place is amazing.
I'm putting Istanbul on our list of cold-weather, short-haul getaways. Thanks for sharing!
Very cool. Such pretty pictures.
ReplyDelete