The Hagia Sophia

One of the first things we noticed about Istanbul is that the locals are very fond of the semi-feral cats that are everywhere. In addition to giving them food and water, they even build them little decorated houses. The boys are excited to have some newborn kittens and their mother living in the light well of our apartment building (pictured below).

Yesterday was a beautiful and sunny 18 degrees, so one of our nicest days in Turkey where it has often been cloudy and cooler. We were heading out to do more sightseeing but discovered a market at the end of our street (pictured opposite). We decided to get some vegetables for supper and cook at home for a change, so we explored the market, which sold everything from eggs to watches to cleaning supplies. Even though we had just eaten breakfast, we

each bought a gozleme, one of our new favourite snacks (very thin dough with various fillings that is folded up and pan fried). We dumped our purchases back at the apartment and set out again. We hadn’t walked more than a few blocks when we stopped to buy our other favourite snack, cheese boreki (pastry stuffed with a salty cheese). It probably goes without saying that we didn’t need any lunch!

Our first goal of the day was to visit the Hagia Sophia (see photos on following pages). We stood in the long line for a bit before someone told us that since we had the museum passes, we could skip the line and go right in, probably saving us a good half hour. The Hagia Sophia did not disappoint, and was even bigger inside than I expected from the outside. It’s amazing that it was built in the 6th century and not surprising that it was the largest dome in the world for 1000 years. We were especially impressed by the floor, which was made of enormous slabs of marble that were all book matched (top right photo on page 187). We were able to walk up the buttresses to the upper gallery to get a closer look at some of the mosaics.

Topher wanted to stay longer so the kids and I went back to the small market near the blue mosque and did some more shopping for gifts. We met up with Topher there and shopped a bit more, then headed to see the remnants of the Roman hippodrome, including the serpentine column that David and I immediately recognized as being from Delphi (we had seen a replica there), and the Obelisk of Theodosius from Egypt (pictured above left). The hippodrome was used for chariot races, hence the modern name for the area, Horse Square. We also admired the buildings of the University of Marmara opposite the square (pictured above right).

We then walked toward the Grand Bazaar, debating what we were going to do next. Hugh and I were thinking about visiting another hammam, and David wanted to go home. We checked out the Cemberlitas hammam (pictured on following page at left) that we had read about near Constantine’s burnt column - it’s dubbed as the most famous in Istanbul. We decided against

since they only had separate areas for men and women, so Hugh wouldn’t be able to hang out with me. We instead hung out next to the column (pictured above), which was once the centre of Constantine’s forum, drinking fresh pomegranate juice before taking the tram back to our apartment. Topher picked up a rotisserie chicken to go with our vegetables, and we enjoyed a break from eating out. Hugh recreated the restaurant experience for us though, and made a menu, put on some mood music and set the table. The boys then FaceTimed with some of their friends and we watched a bit of tv before bed.