Summer in Europe: Istanbul

[Old Ottoman house and newly restored.]

[Vegetable vendor. At least half of the streets in Istanbul -- including far from the tourist areas -- were cobbled.]

Well, we had three days in Istanbul. Maybe if we had been full of energy, we could have done all of the key things in three days, but we weren't. Still, we were able to visit three mosques, three churches (later converted into mosques), a palace, the grand bazaar and we wandered over large parts of the city.

Our hotel room was smaller than our bathroom in Cappadocia. But it was right across the street from the Blue Mosque, with absolutely wonderful views from a lovely roof-top terrace (picture above).

Our first stop was at the Hagia Sophia (pronounced "Aya Sofya" -- shown above). It was the highlight of Istanbul for me -- just incredible. It was built in the 6th Century AD. Normally, when you are looking at something from then, you are looking at one or two columns, at best. Here you can explore what was the largest dome in the world for almost of a millennium, the center of the Orthodox Church, an incredible architectural and engineering triumph -- with some beautiful mosaics, as bonus. The space on the ground floor is just amazingly vast in a way that is hard to capture.

The galleries were equally impressive, with perhaps the best mosaics.

Those columns are still holding up the place 1500 years later...

After the Hagia Sophia, we went over to the Blue Mosque, built afterwards, across from it, in an attempt to match the Hagia Sophia. The interior doesn't -- the four giant columns holding it up remove the sense of space, but it is still quite impressive. The exterior, though, is perhaps the most beautiful in the city.

[Again, from our roof-top deck.]

Our second day was the biggest day. Early in the day we went to two smaller mosques. One of them, the Pasha Mehmet, was I thought the most beautiful one we saw, by Sinan -- considered the best Ottoman architect. It was wonderfully calming and uplifting.

[Courtyard]

Next, we went to the Chora church, which is near the old city walls -- which kept the Turks out of Istanbul until the 15th Century. It was the preferred Byzantine palace church in the 14th and 15th centuries. While not very large, it has an amazing collection of mosaics, mostly on the ceiling.

There were many more scenes than we had seen in other mosaics. One section would be on the life of Mary, another on the saints, etc.

After the church, we had our best meal in Istanbul, at a place that uncovers old Ottoman recipes. The yogurt soup with barley and chick peas was from a 16th century recipe -- and outstanding.

Afterward, we went to the grand bazaar. It is called the largest mall in the world and unfortunately I found that very accurate. I was hoping for cool finds in nooks and crannies. Instead, it seemed overpriced and commercialized. Alison did find one nice Turkish towel and I found some cool Turkish coffee cups, but the cups were too expensive and heavy, so I left them behind.

We had one Mosque Left: The mosque of Suleymann the Magnificent, also by Sinan. I was ready to be blown away, but perhaps I was mosqued out. It is the largest dome in Istanbul and its more-subtle color palette is supposed to be supurb. Perhaps next time I'll feel it.

That night we went to the hipper Galata area for dinner, going to a Taverna. It was good, but in general we didn't find the food in Istanbul as good as elsewhere in Turkey. Perhaps we just didn't have the right recommendations.