Skip to main content

A Full Day in Istanbul: Day 3

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)

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!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Expect the Unexpected

Today marked our first official day of mission work with Living Hope (livinghope.co.za). The theme for the day certainly focused on responding to the unexpected. It started early this morning after breakfast. We had planned on leaving at a certain time, but were unexpectedly contacted as we were washing dishes and asked to come to the Living Hope facility for an orientation and briefing meeting. This was 30 minutes earlier or so than we had expected to leave, but we were flexible and just left early. I was very impressed with the organization and structure of the Living Hope ministry, and I want to devote adequate time and space to that, so I will bring a full description of the ministry on a later post (most likely after we return home, or at the earliest, this weekend). Following the meeting, we drove over to the township in which we will be working for the week, Masiphumelele (Ma-c-pu-ma-lay-le). Masi is one of the townships in which Living Hope is working, and they bas

Day 8 in Israel: City of David, Pool of Siloam, and

Today was one of the hottest in Israel since we've been here but it was also our shortest,turning out to still be a good day. We visited the City of David, Hezekiah's Tunnel/Pool of Siloam, the Davidson Center and Bet-Guvrin-Maresha to participate in an archeological dig. Some of the remains of King David's palace We started the day off going to the City of David which is an Israeli national park and excavation site where Jerusalem sat during the time of King David. We were able to see the newly excavated structure which many believe to be King David's palace. Then we entered Hezekiah's tunnel, which was constructed by King Hezekiah to provide water for the city of Jerusalem prior to war against the Assyrians. This was a walk in complete darkness (except for our flashlights), in almost knee deep water through a tunnel that was not very high or very wide. Yet despite all that, it was a really fun experience for those who braved the waters of the tunnel. 

Sunday Mornings in the Park: A Minister's Confession On A Free Sunday

"A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat       As of this writing, the congregation that I serve has just experienced its 22nd week of no in-person gatherings for worship. We have however, worshiped virtually, and like with anything else you do with practice, we have continued to improve and diversify what we do and how we do it. Consequently, because of the virtual worship services (we have pre-recorded and posted them since Pentecost), I have now had my Sunday mornings free, and I have to say, I am starting to see why people may choose not to attend church on Sunday mornings! ( GASP )        For most Sunday mornings since I started my first paid-position in a congregation back in 2006, I have been obligated to be in a church building on Sunday mornings. There have been only a handful of absences due to vacation and any other misses were on account of doing something related to the church (mission trips, traveling to conferences, etc.). So over