I had a proper Turkish breakfast today; boiled eggs, olives, bread, yoghurt and mysterious pink meat. The coffee was out of a machine and made with UHT milk, but it was strangely tasty. Underneath our dining room is a Roman era cistern, Sarnic means cistern in Turkish. There whole of Sultanahmet is full of archaeology, there is a huge amount of history in Byzantion/Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul.
The Blue Mosque is literally round the corner so we went their first. Julie put a scarf on her head and we all took our shoes off, so the beautiful mosque smelled of sweaty feet! The mosque is famous for the Iznik blue tiles that cover much of its interior.
Next stop was Aya Sofia, inaugurated by the Roman Emperor Justinian in 537, so it is almost 1500 years old! After the Ottoman conquest by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453 it was converted into a mosque, and in 1936 it became a museum.
The original Christian gold mosaics were plastered over and minarets were constructed by the Ottomans, but some of the original features have now been exposed. The dome is 180 feet above the floor, it is an ancient and genuinely awesome building.
The security is tight, there are plenty of armed police around and scanners at the entrance to major buildings.
For lunch we had doner kebab sandwiches, simple and tasty. Following the tram route up the main road we found the Grand Bazaar, a huge covered market that was the Westfield of Ottoman Istanbul. Today it is a vast tourist market selling jewellery, Iznik pottery, tee shirts and all manner of tat. Tommy bought some colourful dishes for Chloe and a Tin Tin in Istanbul tee shirt for me!
Between the bazaar and the Golden Horn are more shopping streets which have stuff that you might want to buy. I got a nice brown leather belt for 20 lira, less than a fiver and it is holding up my trousers right now.
Next stop on our whirlwind tour of the Great Mosques of Istanbul was the Suleymaniya, built by the chief architect of Suliman the Magnificent, Sinan. It was competed in the mid 16th century and has been beautifully restored. It is full of light and is much less busy than the other mosques. The gardens have fabulous views over the Golden Horn to Galata.
Walking downhill and past the boats moored at Eminonu we started to cross the Galata Bridge, but we’re persuaded (very easily) to stop for a beer, which is was just what we needed. The bridge has a road over the top and restaurants beneath it, with only a small section to allow tour boats to pass beneath.
Across the Golden Horn in Galata we once again failed to find a good place to eat and settled for mediocre meatballs. Tomorrow we are going to find somewhere better on TripAdvisor !
timharnesstravels 