The Meeks Family

Our next stop was to The Ayasofya.  It is  a former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica (church), the a catholic church, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey.

Lots of marble was used all over the building.

After it was a church and became a mosque, the paintings and mosaics depicting Jesus, Mary, the Apostles and others were plastered over. They have since been uncovered!

These are the tops of marble coffins that were recycled when the building was constructed.

The fold leafing seen in the center of this image appears in several similar images…

when it was removed, the face of an angel was revealed.

A sundial

Another stray cat.

Between The Blue Mosque and Ayasofya, we explored the Hippodrome.  From Wikipedia: “The Hippodrome of Constantinople (Turkish: Sultanahmet Meydan?, At Meydan?, Turkish pronunciation: [sul?tanah?met]) was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydan?(Sultan Ahmet Square) in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with a few fragments of the original structure surviving. It is sometimes also calledAtmeydan? (Horse Square) in Turkish.”

Stray cat on the steps of the mosque.

Washing stations – prior to praying, Islams must bathe.

View of the tall obelisks remaining from the original Hippodrome.

German Fountain constructed to commemorate the second anniversary of German Emperor Wilhelm II’s visit to Istanbul in 1898.

Our first stop on our tour was The Blue Mosque – called Sultan Ahmet Camii in Turkey.

Stray dogs and cats are common in Istanbul.

Turkish flag

We walked around Taksim Square before the tour bus arrived.

Pastry shop was just getting ready for the morning crowd

Monument of the Republic at Taksim Square

No shoes are allowed in an active mosque

Women must wear appropriate head-coverings when in an active mosque

Our tour guide, Aziz

The handmade rug covers the entire floor. The darker lines are where they place their feet before praying so everyone is lined up.

The women must pray separately from the men.

As seen from beyond the fountain between the Mosque and Ayasofya

This morning we caught an early ferry ride to the European side of Istanbul for a tour of the Blue Mosque, Ayasofya, The Hippodrome, and The Grand Bazaar.

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It is late here in Istanbul – 10:30pm already!  We had a nice dinner out at an outdoor restaurant (they all seem to have outdoor seating).  One big drawback – 75% of the population seems to smoke here.  Since most of the restaurants are indoor/outdoor seating – think of an open sunporch with a patio and no doors, all the smoke that is “outside” just comes right back inside.  Bleh!  Only 3 days more and we’ll be headed home.  That will be a long trip home, but it will be good to get it all over with at once.

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Another location that I’ve never been to before can now be crossed off that list.  Istanbul, Turkey will be where I am for the next 3 days.

They have Capri Sun in Germany

Our plane to Turkey has arrived!

Our plane to Turkey has arrived!

In the taxi/van on the way to the hotel

My bed – much softer and more pillows than what I had in Germany.

We had a full day in Heidelberg today. We took the early train (10:30am) from Mannheim Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station) to Heidelberg which took only 15 minutes. Then we walked from the Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof to the old town where all the shopping and sights are. There are very old buildings (some under renovation) and the Schloss-Heidelberg Palace. The walk through the old town took us well past lunch to get to the palace. The walk up the palace grounds is very steep. We made it, though and enjoyed walking the grounds and seeing the views. We enjoyed good food along the way as well as a beer or two. My beer today had wine and strawberries in it! Yum!

So much more to say about this amazing tour – watch the slide show and see what we were up to today. The pictures are not necessarily in chronological order – please forgive!

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