The tour was a bit pricier than I had hoped to spend. I originally intended to take the government tour, but that was an entire day trip and on my tour, the bus took me around İstanbul and to the top of a hill where we had a spectacular view from the heights of the city. Then we took a tram down the side of the hill back to the bus waiting our arrival.
The boat trip, was brisk, at best, but I settled on the open air top deck to take in the view of palaces, mosques, churches, and houses. The city is beautiful and colorful, too. The minarets on the mosques are gorgeous and the height of each reflects the length of life the person they honor.
The boat trip was fantastic and I met people from the United States, Singapore, and the Russia and even enjoyed some Turkish Coffee while we drifted down the waterways and along the Marmara Sea.
I had doner kebab for lunch and even had some tasty tea to end my meal before taking off to Ayasofya, a mosque and museum that has been amazingly preserved through the years and the various occupancies.
The Christian symbols on the inside of this structure have all been covered by spheres of Arabic script honoring Allah. This tradition of painting and covering over the religious symbols of the past is common in İstanbul where the tumultuous history has brought about a different religious majority each time the power changed. Now the country is 99.8 percent Muslim (according to the CIA World Factbook). Many paintings are still being discovered under plaster and paint from years ago in some of these buildings throughout the city and are displayed as recovered as a preservation of history.
One of the things to do at Ayasofya is put your thumb in this hole, twist your hand around it and make a wish. I was not so much into turning my hand upside down, but I did give a 10 year old boy a chance to play with my fancy camera and he actually took one of the best photos I've had any stranger snap with it!
It was a great day. I turned into my hostel early and the man, Ancelo, on duty there recommended a restaurant called Doy Doy where I had a variety plate of Turkish dishes. An American family was there and had a lot of questions about my travels, so I talked with them while my dinner got cold, but it was fantastic to speak North American English for awhile! When I came back, Ancelo had a bottle of wine, some cheese, and lots of stories to tell of his life and travels and futbol playing days.
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