TO SEE PHOTOS FROM MY TRIP SO FAR, VISIT MY PUBLIC FACEBOOK PHOTO ALBUM FOR THE TRIP HERE.
It was nice to finally have a chance to sleep in a bed and catch up on sleep. Unfortunately for me, my internal body clock was not so keen on the idea of a good seven hours of sleep because I awoke at 3:30 AM local time wide awake and would stay that way the rest of the day. (I eventually crashed on our bus ride to the airport for our flight to Izmir)
It was nice to finally have a chance to sleep in a bed and catch up on sleep. Unfortunately for me, my internal body clock was not so keen on the idea of a good seven hours of sleep because I awoke at 3:30 AM local time wide awake and would stay that way the rest of the day. (I eventually crashed on our bus ride to the airport for our flight to Izmir)
We spent the day seeing some of the major locales around Turkey's capital city. We begin by spending the morning at Topkapi Palace, the former primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 40 years of the 624 year reign. The facility was immaculate, and covered a large plot of ground. The facility doubled as a museum with items from the sultans and rulers over the years,including an 86 carrot diamond. (Yes, 86 carrots). This place was interesting because of the look into history it provided and the visual representation of the Ottaturk dynasty's wealth and power.
Next we visited two locations that are significant to the Muslim community. First was the beautiful Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia or St. Sophia's Church is a former Greek Orthodox basilica, which later became an imperial mosque, but today is a museum. It was an amazing facility to see because of just how large it was, and the beauty of it was breathtaking. It was also very unique because of its depictions of both the Christian faith, retained in honor of its previous owner, and the images from the Islamic faith, it's current occupant. Following Hagia Sophia we also visited the .... More commonly referred to as The Blue Mosque. It gets it's name because of its obvious use of the color blue throughout the structure. It is the fourth largest "dome" (mosque) in the world, and offers visitors a unique look inside a mosque, whereas normally non-Muslims are not allowed entry.
We also were able to visit the underground Basicillica Cistern and the Hippodrome Mall. The cistern is an underground water well basically , that holds water used for recreational purposes. The hippodrome mall is a gorgeous open mall that retains certain elements of the ancient Roman Hippodrome. Hippodromes we huge stadium-like structures where horse races were held. We ended the day by taking a late afternoon flight to Izmir, just under an hour from Istanbul by air, and settled into our hotel for some much desired rest and food!
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