The last of the Tuesday, April 14 pictures from Istanbul.



After Hagia Sophia, we had lunch nearby. We sat outside at a restaurant watching people go by, as two or three different people from the restaurant tried to invite people to come in or look at the menu. Again, they were able to use multiple languages to try to talk passers-by to stop.




After lunch we walked the short distance to the Blue Mosque. It is also rather large, but significantly newer than Hagia Sophia - it is from the 17th Century. It was interesting to note the variety of media used to achieve the effect: there were carpets, tiles, marble, paint, stained glass and I'm sure there were several others.





I was surprised there was no admission charges, but I guess I shouldn't have been. It is, after all, a house of worship (unlike Hagia Sophia, which is now a museum). In Italy admission wasn't charged for the churches but was charged at Holy Cross in Florence, which had also been converted to a museum (lots of major figures' tombs are there.


There are separate entrances for tourists and worshippers, and most of the mosques don't let the tourists into the portions of the mosque where the worshippers are in prayer. This particular mosque also had an entrance for Turks as opposed to people from other nations. All the mosques have separate prayer spaces for men and women. Usually the women are from far the "front."





At Suleiman the Magnificent's mosque, we just
left our shoes on shelves they had outside, but since the entrance and exit to the Blue Mosque were different, they had a box of plastic bags for people to use. Remove shoes, bag them, carry them with you, put them on at exit.




The sign outside the mosque had exactly the same instructions as outside the others regarding removing shoes, appropriate attire, etc - and headdress for women. But, many woman did not have their heads covered, and as Kim put her scarf on a carpet salesman told her she didn't need to.





















This picture was taken just outside the Blue Mosque, and that's Hagia Sophia in the background. Quite surprising that they're both so close to each other.














After the Blue Mosque we went to the Hippodrome. This obelisk was brought from Egypt in 390 AD, and is 3500 years old.













After that, our last stop of the day was the Basilica Cistern. Above ground there's just a little brick structure that serves as the ticket booth/entrance, and you really have no idea how huge the space below is. This underground space was the water source for Istanbul since the 6th Century. When you go down the stairs you immediately feel the cool air. I imagine this is a very popular attraction in July and August.




My pictures are awful because of the limited light
down there. I recommend you click the link
above and look at their pictures.




Look carefully at the pillar on the left and you'll see the head of Medusa (sideways) at the base. There are two Medusa pillars, in addition to the 100+ more "plain" ones.












This picture marks the start of Wednesday, April 15. Tax day and our last day in Istanbul. This is the "New Mosque" (Pasa), located right next door to the Spice Market. Don't let the name fool you - it's from the 16th Century.


We took our time getting up and out of the hotel. Hotel was good but a word to future travelers: pay in local currency. We lost out on the exchange by paying Euros.

More tomorrow.