Day 11: Istanbul, Turkey

After a 6:00 buffet breakfast at Raffles we went out onto our balcony and could see the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia in the distance.

I could still remember how awed we were by those mosques in 2005.














Turkish musicians greeted us at the port.

The Hop On Hop Off Big Bus at $40 a person was more reasonable than the $99 a person excursion we'd signed up for earlier.  This way we could go at our own pace.

Ear buds were provided so we could listen to information in English about what we were seeing.

There was also free wifi on board the bus. Yae!

Here is the Bosphorus Bridge that connects Europe and Asia.

Turkey is the only country located in both Europe and Asia.

People in Turkey are considered Eurasian.

Istanbul (which used to be Constantinople) has 16 million people and is the largest city in Turkey.  There are 75 million people living in Turkey.







I do love to take photos of crows in different countries.

I took this photo from the bus of these workers doing landscaping on a hill.

We also passed the New Mosque.

The Yeni Cami, meaning New Mosque; originally named the Valide Sultan Mosque and later New Valide Sultan Mosque after its partial reconstruction and completion between 1660 and 1665; is an Ottoman imperial mosque located in the Eminonu quarter of Istanbul. It is situated on the Golden Horn, at the southern end of the Galata Bridge, and is one of the famous architectural landmarks of Istanbul.
                       --Wikipedia


Feeding the pigeons here is supposed to bring good luck.

We hopped off our Big Bus and headed for the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.














The Blue Mosque is in the background.

What are the odds of this happening???   We ran into Arnold and Nancy at the Hagia Sophia and he took our photo for us before running to catch up with their tour group.

We decided to go to the Hagia Sophia first.

I still remembered what an awesome place that was and looked forward to seeing it again.

The sheer size of the mosque took your breath away.

Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia; Turkish: Ayasofya) is a former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum (Ayasofya Müzesi) in Istanbul. From the date of its construction in 537 until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.                         --Wikipedia

On the left is the Pillar of St. Gregory the Miracle Worker.  Devotees used to believe that the sick could be healed by touching it.  Now people think that sticking your thumb in and twirling your hand would grant you a wish.

The photo on the right shows Art climbing to the second floor of the mosque.

The view from the second floor was amazing too.















This is a mosaic of the Virgin Mary with Emperor John II Comnenus and Empress Irene.

We left the Hagia Sophia to walk to the Hippodrome since the Blue Mosque was closed for prayers.

This is the Obelisk of Thutmose III.

After specifically bringing a scarf all the way from Hawaii to wear at the mosque, I forgot it on the ship.  I forgot Flat Stanley too.  I was really grateful that scarves were provided at the Blue Mosque.

It was lovely to be inside the Blue Mosque again and see all the beautiful blue tiles on the walls.









We boarded the Hop On Hop Off Big Bus and returned to the ship.

It was a more relaxing day of sightseeing without having to worry about keeping up with everybody.

I later noticed Hop On Hop Off buses in other cities too.  It's something to remember for any other trips we take.