October 7th, 2013: Day 2 of Turkey!
An early morning lead to a jam packed day! I am so excited and grateful I get to wake up in Turkey this morning! Our first stop this morning was the famous Topkapi Palace. This place was huge with many different buildings and areas for the gardens, relics, and treasures. Unfortunately photography wasn't always allowed so I'm sorry for the lack of pictures (even though it is nearly impossible to post them here at the Center anyways). Some of the relics we saw included the "Possible real" staff of Moses, the hand of John the Baptist (don't worry it was all wrapped up, couldn't really see anything), keys from the Kaaba in Mecca and hair from the beard of Muhammad. It was neat to have the musical sounding recitation of the Koran filling the building as we walked through. Once we could see the exit we noticed an old Muslim sitting in the corner with a microphone and the Koran, it was a live reading! In the room with all the jewelry and treasures we saw the biggest diamond--80 something odd carats! Can you imagine that on a wedding ring, it'd weigh down your whole hand! Crazy!!!
Close by we went to the Hippodrome of Constantinople, the "horse track." This was a large open-air venue for public events like chariot races, horse races, and civic celebrations located right in front of the Blue Mosque (which will be discussed later!) Some estimate that at one time the Hippodrome could hold up to 100,000 spectators cheering on the events. There wasn't a lot to see here unfortunately but I can only imagine the grand events and fun entertainment that took place here!
Finally we arrived at the Sultanahmet Mosque (referred to by tourists as the Blue Mosque because of its beautiful Iznik tile used in the inside) which was one of my favorites thus far. I honestly felt like I was walking into a castle, even more so than the Disneyland representation ;) Since it is still an active mosque we women had the privilege of wearing a headscarf, which only some can pull off fashionably, and everyone had to take off their shoes. Built in the early 17th century , the mosque complex includes a large courtyard, Ahmet's tomb, and originally contained a madrasa (school) and a hospice. This building is huge! Although the normal minaret number for this king of mosque is four (like the Hagia Sophia), the Blue Mosque contains six. This caused a great controversy since the Grand Mosque in Mecca also had six minarets, which meant they had to add another one to the Grand Mosque. The lower level is decorated with over 20,000 beautifully decorated blue ceramic tiles. The large tablets on the walls are inscribed with the names of the caliphs and verses form the Koran. There was a reverent spirit here that added to the beautiful interior. I also enjoyed being passed by the Muslims going to the closed off section to prepare for noon prayer. Which just for your information, visitors aren't allowed inside during prayer times. Although it isn't a sacred place necessarily for the LDS religion, it is a portal to God for others and we need to respect that. There is more in common with Muslims than one would first notice.
After a super fancy, 5 plate lunch (salad, soup & bread, appetizer, main dish, and dessert) we headed to the Basilica Cistern. Can I just tell you I love cisterns and the Spirit it brings when we sing hymns which ring off the walls and bear witness of their truth! Plus seeing the pictures online of this Cistern I was super excited (just google search, my pictures once uploaded won't do it justice!). This was like no other cistern I have ever been too, it literally looked like an underground palace. This Cistern was build by Justinian in the 6th Century A.D. and have 336 thick columns made of marble and granite for support. Some of the column bases are stones reused form earlier structures, two of which have huge Medusa heads on the bottom since they were originally too short. According to Greek mythology, anyone who looked Medusa in the eyes would turn into stone! They were often used in Roman structures as a sign of protection. Don't worry I didn't make eye contact, that's why I'm still here! I loved the lighting of the cistern. They had built a wooden path to walk on so water could still be there and added little lights at the bottom of the columns giving the place some "mood" lighting. I wished so bad that we could have sung but unfortunately this was a very busy tourist attraction so instead we just enjoyed the view!
Next stop was shopping at the Grand Bazaar!!! This Bazaar had over 4,000 shops, a girls biggest dream (besides a trip to Jerusalem and Turkey of course!) By the way 2 Turkish Lyra was equivalent to 1 U.S dollar. I really wish we would have had more time to explore and shop, we only had 45 minutes with our busy schedule which meant only a few shops. I did however find a charm for my journey necklace. It is in the shape of an eye and has a verse from the Koran concerning Allah written in Arabic.
Our last activity of the night, yes the day just kept going and going with excitement, was a private boat ride on the Bosphorus Strait. I hope this doesn't sound stupid but this was one of my favorite parts of the day! It felt so nice to sit back and relax as Turkey unfolded in front of you! It was a cool fall night with a slight breeze, I felt like I was free, no worries in the world just tossing back and forth with the waves. It was also really neat to see the differences in the Asia and Europe sides of Turkey. I loved seeing all the mosques, resorts, schools, palaces, and other buildings that lined the shore. It was so beautiful I just sat in awe, pinching myself to wake up from the dream! Next thing I know we have 4 dolphins swimming alongside the boat, just like you see in the movies! It was the perfect night for a boat ride under the moonlight sky! There was a crescent moon and one star out, just like the Turkey flag! The Bosphorus bridge was also lit with lights that changed colors and was so perfect!
I had such a blast enjoying the scenes and hanging out with the friends that I've made. There are two girls that I've become almost inseparable with, Lauren Law (soon to be Korth) and Kinsey Ferrell. We finished off the night making funny face photos while we waited for the boat to be secured to unload. I can definitely see best friends for life out of them we laughed so hard! Perfect way to end the night in Turkey if you ask me!
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