Istanbul

	We visited Istanbul in May 2002 over a 3 day weekend. The weather was excellent and we had a great time just skimming the surface of this imperial city and making plans for a more substantial visit. We toured several of the major monuments, took a boat trip up the Bosphorus, and walked through the Bazaars and markets extensively, while the children took first hand lessons in street vendor selling and negotiating. All very eye opening but lots of fun after a bit. Istanbul taxis are pretty aggressive, using horns simply to notify cars in other lanes that "we are coming..."... One of the most interesting facets of driving in Istanbul is the traffic light with a large timer on top; the timer illustrates a 30 second countdown before the Red light turns Green, and Green to Red. Drivers begin rev'ving their engines 15 seconds before the Green... and off they go. We blasted through 30 KPH sections of road at 80 kph, then 20 KPH at 80KPH, then even a 10KPH section of road. Thrilling... Another great memory is the call to prayer that each mosque makes 5 times a day. We've heard this before in Jordan, but it is quite special in Istanbul, as with hundreds of mosques the call (each mosque is a bit different) echo's from many points all over the city, each beginning and ending slightly off from each other, and each with a different caller. Very haunting and special.
The Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia in Greek) is in the background. This church was the greatest in Christendom when built in 532AD by Emperor Justiniun. The interior dome is 43 meters high, and butresses were not used (they were added later, along with the minarets, by the Ottoman Turkish conquerors after 1453 AD). Great mosaic pictures from 300-550 AD. Justiniun is pictured on the left, offering the church of Saint Sophia to Mary and the Christ Child. The ceiling picture shows the original Byzantine art, left preserved by the Ottomans as it did not show images. The Ottoman moslems only covered up the images with plaster, and put up the great plaques with Allah's name on it, deliberately trying to retain the architectural and artistic integrity of Saint Sophia. The single brick minaret was the first, built by Mehmet, who used brick to remain consistent with the Byzantine style. The other minarets were constructed of marble by subsequent sultans.
Emilie growing up! The Blue Mosque was built in the 1600's by the Islamic Sultan to be greater than St. Sophia, and is quite beautifully lined with blue tiles inside, and with wonderful oriental carpets completely covering the floor.
Emperor Justiniun built several massive underground cisterns to hold water; this is the largest that survives; it holds 20 million gallons of water, has 363 columns supporting the roof, with walls 12 feet thick, and was built in 360 AD! By the way, if you remember the scene in From Russia with Love, James Bond boats along these waters... A picture of Sara and the kids in the Grand Bazaar; we had fun - after 3 visits you relax and learn to enjoy the hard sell and bargaining. One of multitude of "tour" boats on the Bosphorus. Istanbul has hundreds of mosques; during the Byzantine empire there were rumoured to be 4000 churches (many small of course). The few defenders that surrendered immediately were allowed to live and retain their churches, but the vast majority were killed in battle or afterwards, and the churches converted to mosques. The fortress was built by Mehmet in 1452 to block the Bosphorus and prevent the reinforcement of Constantinople a year before he conquered the city... Great transfiguration of very old, very new. The bridges connect Europe and Asia.
Our hotel, the Four Seasons, was the Murderers Prison until 1995. Very thick walls and a picturesque moat-wall! A Postcard place to stay, and fantastically set directly among the major sights. Sara relaxing after lunch. Derek doing same... Emilie doing same! Sara & kids in Yenekoy, on the Bosphorus where the summer houses line the shores.