Istanbul, Turkey

I've officially made it out of the middle east and into Istanbul up here in Turkey. I thought I left the heat in the middle east, but i'm still plagued by the weather. Today was a nice warm 85 degrees but with 79% humidity. But as I'm told if I want to travel through Asia, this is nothing. I guess living in San Diego has spoiled me with perfect weather.

Peering up through a chandelier inside the Haghia Sophia.

This place was incredibly huge. It is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque and now a museum. You'll find a handful of mosaics showing Virgin Mother, Jesus, Saints, or emperors and empresses. Supposedly the mosque wouldn't allow faces to be shown on some paintings which were covered up with stars. There seems to be a few things that are in debate whether or not these things should be revealed by removing changes made by the mosque.

Inside the bottom of the Basilica Cistern.

When I read about the Basilica Cistern i assumed it was a boring hole in the ground where water was stored. But when I walked by the entrance we saw this long line going down a stair case, I was curious. We paid an entrance fee and found ourselves in this cavernous vault with rows of collums with water filling the base of this place. suspended above the water was a walk way for us to explore the back where we found Medusa's heads.

Front courtyard of the Blue Mosque.

What a way to end the day. After spending some time appreciating the architecture and artwork in the Blue Mosque, we walked out and realized Wai lost her Ray Bans. :(