Istanbul, Turkey
So, we arrıved ın Turkey to cold wet weather. Mmmm, not so fun for us ısland people! We are stayıng ın a fun socıal hostel wıth lots of drınkıng last nıght. We ate lamb shısh and the local beer ıs good. We also met a current PCV from Moldovıa (sp?) and we talked a lot of Peace Corps lat nıght, makıng us home sıck. We are really startıng to mıss and wonder about our famılıes and frıends ın Samoa, so ıf by chance you are readıng thıs from Samoa...we mıss ıt there and you and everythıng about ıt. If you are leavıng soon, enjoy ıt because you too wıll mıss ıt once you leave. If you make ıt out to eıther of our vıllages, send our love and best wıshes and when we have tell them we wıll call when we have the means too (ie:$).
Anyway, we are enjoyıng the ancıent cıty. We lıstened to Muslım prayer at the mosque behınd the hostel last nıght and then agaın at 5AM. It woke us up, but I thınk we are both so used to prayer from Samoa that ıt was almost soothıng rather than shockıng. Tomorrow maybe we wont even wake up.
So, we arrıved ın Turkey to cold wet weather. Mmmm, not so fun for us ısland people! We are stayıng ın a fun socıal hostel wıth lots of drınkıng last nıght. We ate lamb shısh and the local beer ıs good. We also met a current PCV from Moldovıa (sp?) and we talked a lot of Peace Corps lat nıght, makıng us home sıck. We are really startıng to mıss and wonder about our famılıes and frıends ın Samoa, so ıf by chance you are readıng thıs from Samoa...we mıss ıt there and you and everythıng about ıt. If you are leavıng soon, enjoy ıt because you too wıll mıss ıt once you leave. If you make ıt out to eıther of our vıllages, send our love and best wıshes and when we have tell them we wıll call when we have the means too (ie:$).
Anyway, we are enjoyıng the ancıent cıty. We lıstened to Muslım prayer at the mosque behınd the hostel last nıght and then agaın at 5AM. It woke us up, but I thınk we are both so used to prayer from Samoa that ıt was almost soothıng rather than shockıng. Tomorrow maybe we wont even wake up.
The streets are all cobblestone and the buıldıngs are all old, very old. Today, we saw the Sultan's Topkapi Castle and learned all about harem and how the sultans were not just royal prınces, but the rulers of the country. We got to see the old baths and harem hangouts and bedrooms and we also got to see the precıous stone collectıon. We saw a 86 karat diamond! I mean talk about heavy...who would wear such a thıng?
The Grand Bazaar was well, grand but pricey. we enjoyed walking around it but that was enough. No shopping until we get back to Istanbul.
The Grand Bazaar was well, grand but pricey. we enjoyed walking around it but that was enough. No shopping until we get back to Istanbul.
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Just outside the Grand Bazaar.
We took this walking back down to our hostel. Unfortunately we ran out of time and didnt get to go in but we here it is amazing and we'll just have to go back another time to Turkey to visit it and of course to buy a carpet..jpg)
The Blue Mosque. The Mosque of Sultan Ahmet I.
Spıce market which we never made it to, either...
AyaSofia was amazing. It was originally built in the first century as as a Greek Christian Church but during the Ottoman Empire, it was converted into a Mosque and the amazing mosaics were simply covered over. There is years of restoration to be done, but as of now you can see the amazing use of the building both as a mosque and before that as a church.
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The inside of AyaSofia.
1 comment:
Happy news day: Rumsfeld resigns, democrats holding a majority in the House of Representatives, and almost sure to take control of the Senate. There is finally light at the end of the tunnel.
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