Saturday Sight Seeing: two mosques, a church and a palace

This morning we raced out to the bus only to fight Istanbul traffic. Istanbul has been growing so fast, and even with publics transportation improvements, traffic can be crazy. It also doesn't help that we are in a large tour bus and the streets are narrow. Also, people will just pull over and park. It can be frustrating, but it has afforded us a fee opportunities to nap mid-day.

Today we visited the Suleymaniye Mosque, then the Byzantine Hippodrome. The mosque was really interesting and it is still actively being used for prayer. The ladies of our group all brought pashminas with us to cover our heads. They do have scarves you can borrow, but that creeped me out a little. We all removed our shoes before entering and I am so glad I chose slip ons instead of my sneakers. The Hippodrome is a plaza with two obelisks and a bronze statue of 3 serpents intertwined. It is interesting that even though Istanbul has so many things that are ancient and native to Turkey, they have things like obelisks that were brought in from Egypt.

We then got in line for the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque was also very beautiful. This mosque had more tilework. After the mosque, we got in line for Hagia Sophia. Even though we had tickets, the line stretched through the plaza. This afforded a much needed snack break, obviously. I had this bagel-thing but tried to share (so many carbs in this city) and Jenny got a pastry that was like a giant rugelach but not as good.. It was a church , then it was a mosque and now it is a museum. The mosaics are amazing and in great condition for their age.

Then it was finally lunch time. Lunch was pretty good. We had berek as an appetizer which is like a Turkish egg roll. Then we had something that tasted a lot like pot roast and was served with some mash/purée thing which I tried but obviously couldn't finish.

Then we got to visit the Topkapi palace which had beautiful courtyards and more amazing mosaics. The palace was home to most of the Sultans that ruled over Istanbul. We got to check out an exhibit of jewelry and other jeweled items owned by Sultans and given to Sultans as gifts, including a 86 carat diamond. They unfortunately, didn't let us play dress up,

On the way back to the hotel, Jenny and I got dropped off in the neighborhood near the Galata tower so we could visit a shop we had stopped in on Wednesday. We successfully navigated our way home and managed to stumble into some sort of outdoor concert, which was interesting.

Now we're repacking for tomorrow's journey to Athens.

Photos:
Outside the Suleymaniye, Hagia Sofia, Random concert, inside the Blue Mosque