Istanbul, Turkey: A City on Two Continents

Upon arriving in Istanbul, I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. This was one of the few ports none of us had been to. For this exciting excursion, my mom booked a private guide with another family of 5 plus the grandmother. The Denver native family had three kids, a 14 year-old, 12 year-old, and 5 year-old. The five year old, Ethan, was absolutely adorable and the entertainment for the day. Our first stop was the Topkapi Palace, which contains the Treasury filled with jewels, belongings of the Sultan, and religious artifacts. Special religious artifacts too...Moses' staff and David's sword? Hm..not too sure where they got those or how legitimate they are, but they are on displayed. The open palace had a Moorish design and beautiful architecture. Built for the open sun. But on the day we visited, it was far from sunny. Actually, it rained and caught us by complete surprise, of course without umbrellas. We ran through the palace for shelter and quickly left.

In order to avoid the rain, our guide took us to a Turkish carpet store. The salesmen call the carpet industry a dying art. Each carpet had a different pattern, color, and something special. The last time my mom came to Turkey, she found the carpet worthy of bringing home. However, this time she wasn't so lucky to find another that matched. But the grandmother of the other family couldn't resist buying one. After the stop to look at carpets, we ate lunch at the restaurant next door. I never thought I'd like Turkish food as much as I did. It was absolutely fantastic, not to mention healthy. 

Our next stop was the popular tourist destination, the Blue Mosque. In case we were required to cover our heads out of respect for the Muslim religion, we were prepared with scarves brought just for that purpose. When we arrived, we were only required to take off our shoes and cover our shoulders. I had never been in a mosque before and it was quite different than the churches we've seen in Rome. The carpets are comfortable enough to sleep on. The segregation between men and women was a culture shock that I expected, but not to this extent. I didn't feel looked down upon, but I definitely didn't feel like an equal. Eh, I'm not going to get into this...Next, we went to the Hagia Sophia, which is conveniently just across the street. The Hagia Sophia was once a mosque, but now its more of a museum. There were beautiful mosaics of Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist. Our tour guide noted where the Sultan and his family would sit. Since it was older than the Blue Mosque, I found the Hagia Sophia to be more interesting, especially because it had an interesting history. 

Due to the weather, we were caught in traffic worse than rush hour in Los Angeles. The traffic caused us problems in reaching all the destinations we wanted to see, like the Grand Bazaar. But our dinner mates who went to the crazy shopping center said they were harassed to buy items and felt packed in like sardines. So I guess it's not that big of a deal that we didn't go. Instead, we went to a pottery store where they showed us a demonstration on how they made the dishes and cups. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Istanbul. Next stop, Kusadasi!