Once again, Cara has broadened my world and opened me up to new and exciting experiences. Before leaving on the trip, she insisted we visit Turkey while we are in Europe. Knowing very little about Turkey and just reading about their recent conflict with Israel over the Gaza aid ship, I wasn't too excited about going. I'm glad she insisted because Turkey provided us with an amazing opportunity to experience a Muslim culture. It also, provided me an opportunity to learn more about a country I had never really considered.
Turkey is located between the Western European mainland and the Islamic Middle East. Istanbul is the major city at this border between Europe and Asia. Because of its location, Turkey is influenced by both western and Islamic culture. While walking through the streets you will see women in western style clothes as well as full robes covering head to toe only allowing a slit for their eyes. You will also hear the hundreds of mosques located around the city blasting their call to prayer from the minaret, five times a day. The first call to prayer is around 6am and the last call to prayer is close to 10pm.
The people were friendly, and the city itself reminded us a lot of the big bustling cities of Southeast Asia. Similar smells and chaotic traffic.
Anne, our friend from Texas Ultimate days, is currently a professor and researcher of linguistics at an Istanbul college. She was able to arrange a friend's apartment for us to stay in while visiting the city. Her friend is an international teacher finishing her two year assignment in Istanbul who was traveling Europe for the summer before heading home to Canada. The first picture below will give you an idea of how amazing this hookup was. It was great to catch up with Anne and Sasha. Thank you for the hospitality, dinners, and recommendations. Good friends can really open up a new city.
We had 14 days to explore Turkey. Below are the sites we saw while in Istanbul. Enjoy!
Sunrise over the Bosphorus Straight and Bridge. This was the view from our apartment! The east side of the straight is the Asia side of the country. We are on the European side.
The Blue Mosque with 6 minarets. The minarets are used to amplify the call to prayer 5 times a day.
Ancient obelisks that we transported from Egypt, thousands of years ago.
Ablution station outside of the blug mosque. Muslims clean their hands, face, and feet before entering the mosque for prayer.
the Blue Mosque is a still a functional mosque with prayer services held 5 times a day. It is open to the public whenever services are not being conducted.
Blue tile work inside the mosque.
Cara, infront of one of the four 'elephant columns'. As you can see these are huge columns that support the massive dome.
Mike in front of the Blue Mosque
Hagia Sofia, just across from the Blue Mosque. Just as huge and impressive.
Cara inside the Hagia Sofia. The Hagia Sofia is now a museum and does not conduct any religious services. It began as a huge cathedral during the Roman/Christian rule of Istanbul. After the Turks captured Istanbul, they converted it into a mosque. Instead of destroying the delicate Christrian mosaics, the Turks plastered over them and decorated on top. Historians have carefully removed some of the plaster to expose these detailed mosaics. During the mid-twentieth century, it was converted into a museum for everyone to enjoy.
A view of the Blue Mosque form within Hagia Sofia.
One of the detailed Christian mosaics.
Inside the main prayer chamber under the massive dome in Hagia Sofia. The large black and gold circular signs are representations of different Sultans names.
The dome of Hagia Sofia.
The Basilica Cistern. The fresh water traveled over 15 km from the forest outside of the city to be stored for use in the sultan's place, Topkapi.
Horse drawn melon cart. We didn't see many of these, but thought they were pretty awesome.
Turkish nargile (hookah or water pipe). We celebrated Cara's birthday with an apple flavored nargile and a few beers while playing Backgammon.
Fortune telling rabbits! After picking a rabbit to tell your fortune, the man in charge places the rabbit near small pieces of paper. Whichever piece of paper the rabbit "chooses" is your fortune. These were like inserts to fortune cookies. The rabbits were extremely calm and seemed content to just hang out on top of that box.
Beach tournament on the Black Sea. Anne is sitting in the center stretching her hamstrings.
Dinner with our new friends after a day of beach ultimate. The beach tournament was Asu and friends first time to play in a tournament. After giving us a ride back to Istanbul, they invited us up for an amazing meal in their home.
Crowded streets near the Spice Bazaar.
Huge blocks of turkish delight in the Spice Bazaar.
Spices!
The entrance to Topkapi Palace, the home of the Sultans.
An archway in Topkapi Palace. It was extremely crowded on the day we visited this site. Very difficult to take a picture without many new friends walking through.
Beautiful tile work in Topkapi.
0 comments:
Post a Comment