The Snowlady Chronicles: Istanbul

April 30, 2013 Tuesday

Istanbul, Turkey

Sunny and Very Pleasant

Good Morning Istanbul!

Today is our first full day in Istanbul and we are spending the whole day playing tourist with our cute, young, energetic and very knowledgeable guide Akin.

First stop, Chora Church, one of the most beautiful churches located in the most conservative Muslim community of Istanbul. The mosaics in the building are just stunning. It is said that Da Vinci came to Chora Church and after seeing the mosaic of Jesus, was inspired to create Mona Lisa.

While heading out to find our driver, Akin asked us if we wanted to see some pottery. We said "YES" and boy, were we treated to something special. We actually were treated to a demonstration of how pottery is made in Turkey. We also learned that the world famous Iznek pottery is 15% clay and 85% quartz. We saw the most beautiful pottery pieces in this store.

Next stop was the Blue Mosque, the grand mosque built by Sultan Ahmed. While driving to the Mosque, we first had to drive thru the conservative area where Chora Church resides. Not only did we see women dressed in full cover up gear but we saw 100s of wedding dress shops where the dresses were bling bling to the max. Anyhoo, I digress.

We got to the Mosque, put on our scarves and entered the most gorgeous mosque I've ever been too. It's called the blue mosque because of the beauiful blue tiles all over the Mosque. It was also interesting because we were nearing prayer time so was able to see some men during their prostrations. We asked why the men had a larger space and it was mainly because not many women pray as often as men. I also learned what the minarets are and their purpose. The Bllue Mosque has 6 minarets which is rare and done because the Sultan wanted to build the grandest mosque in the world. And each minaret had 16 balconies. In the old days, men of the mosque went out to the balconies to call for prayers. Now of course, they use technology.

Next stop was lunch. Akin took us to the original Karadeniz Turkish Pizza Parlour. What was so funny is the surrounding Karadeniz are alot of restaurants with the same name. Akin took us to the authentinc and original Turkish Pizza place. We all had 3 different kind of pizzas: Sheep Cheese, Veggies and Veggies with meat. Delish!

Then we were off to our next visit, the Aya Sophya which is Istanbul's most famous tourist spots. It was built in the 500s and to date stands in great shape. The show stopper of the visit is the altar which is Islam but with Mary and baby Jesus looking down at the altar from the ceiling. I believe its the only place in the world where one can find a Christianity and Islam bleinding as one.... very peaceful.

After the Aya Sophya, we went to the "Cistern". At the beginning I wasn't too keen to go, but glad Akin told us it was worth it. Fortunately for us, the "cruise" crowd had not arrived so the cistern was not crowded and thus was very magical. Mary and I paid some monies to get our picture taken as a "sultraness".

After our sightseeing, Akin took us to some shops - a Turkish towel shop, Rug shop and finally the Grand Bazaar. The Turkish Towels were beautiful but expensive! Saw a beautiful silk prayer rug but it was over 1000 dollars! Sandra saw man beautiful rugs but my gosh, so expensive!

The Grand Bazaar was not as crazy as we thought it was going to be and quite managable. We stopped at a Turkish lamp store where we saw some of the most beaufiful handmade chandeliers but expensive!

The day ended quite quickly and we all loved Akin from Tru Blue Tours. If ever going to Turkey, I highly recommend them and ask for Ruta. She is fantastic!

We decided to go out for dinner but unfortunatley many of the restaurants recommended were full, so we went to a seafood restaurant that had taxi service. Setting was beautiful and very fresh seabass.

Overall, a busy but fun day with lots of learning. I feel like I'm beginning to get closer to Turkey

Chora Church