Where we left off...

HELLLOOOOOOOO


I just got back from lunch in Taksim with Alix and I am currently packing for Cappadocia (by packing, I mean googling stuff to see)!! I leave tonight at 11pm. I am so grateful that Zeynep gave me until Monday off to go on this trip. Despite the fact I am going alone, I am sure I will have a blast. Hopefully I meet lots of nice people!

Cappadocia- They are famous for hot air balloon tours of the cave dwellings. If I have enough money, and find someone to go with, I might take one 

Now where did we leave off? Ahh yes, we had just finished up at Topkapı Palace. The following Friday Alix, Sarah and I lined up our day off. We went back to the district of Sultanahmet to go and see the infamous  Blue Mosque or in Turkish the Sultanahmet Camii. You can probably guess what this district is named after. We had a TON of time so we decided to do a bit of shopping. Sarah and I picked up these awesome pants at a shop right in the district. Best part of these pants are they feel like you aren't wearing any! Great for those hot days. 

Our awesome pants

We arrived at the Blue Mosque at prayer time which meant we actually couldn't go in. We ended up just walking around outside and taking pictures. We observed some Muslim etiquette, such as the men washing their feet before entering the mosque. 

Ellis love! The Blue Mosque in the background

Outside the Blue Mosque. 

Inner courtyard

We didn't want to wait for two hours for the mosque to be available so we hopped on a tram (my all time favourite form of transport here, you just can't mess up) to go the Grand Bazaar. It certainly is grand with respect to size, but all of us ladies agreed we liked the Egyptian Spice Bazaar much more. The Grand Bazaar is a lot more commercial. While there are some really cool offshoots that showcase old folk art, rugs and perfumes- for the most part its very modern. There are actual glass front stores in there and restaurants. Kind of like a mall. Something I love about the spice market is all the desserts- Turkish delight and baclava especially- that you can buy. We couldn't find any here! We actually ended up going to the Spice bazaar later that day just to pick some up. The prices also seemed to be a lot higher for things compared to the Spice Bazaar. I noticed this particularly with scarves. However, we did have a great (but overpriced) lunch. Below is a picture of Sarah and I at lunch in the Bazaar. 

Lunch in the Grand Bazaar

Satiated and satisfied, we left to re-attempt the Blue Mosque. We must have got in shortly after it re-opened because we hardly waited in line. This is a practicing mosque and as a sign of respect we took off our shoes and put scarves over our hair. Tourists that did not have appropriate clothing or scarves were given blue fabric to tie into long skirts or to put over their hair. Once again, I am going to give you some history so you can better appreciate the post- time to get educated! 

The Blue Mosque began construction in 1609 and took a total of 7 years to construct. It is heavily influenced by both Byzantine church structure and traditional Ottoman mosque architecture. Like the Hagia Sophia, it's overwhelming size was built to awe. The Blue Mosque features a massive dome, 8 minor domes and 6 minarets (remember from my last post? The tower/pillar things). The interior has over 20 000 handmade ceramic tiles, over half feature a tulip design. The tiles that adorn the upper parts of the arches and domes are blue- where the blue mosque actually gets it's name.  Additionally there are over 200 stained glass windows. I believe I heard a tour guide say this is the Byzantine church influence.

 So many tiles!

The central dome

Shortly after we got onto the tram and went over to the Spice market, to pick up some Turkish delight. Needless to say... Alix was excited. We have actually been here so many times and tried to many types from vendors, we have a favorite place to buy it! 

This man knows what's up

That evening we all went down to Ortakoy and finally had a famous Ortakoy potato. I don't know how many people have told me to try one of them. You get these order forms and you tick off what you want in your potato ( I didn't even know what most of the stuff was). Turned out pretty tasty. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we were all exhausted. We had been carrying around heavy backpacks all day, and were extremely tired. I think the best part of my entire day was sitting on my butt right there in that cafe eating my potato, smoking my first hookah and chatting with Alix and Sarah. 

Earlier this week Alix and I went to Dolmabahce Palace the palace of the sultans during the last part of their rein of the Ottoman empire. Dolmabahce was built to replace Topkapi palace as the main residence for the Sultans. They were looking to modernize, so it was heavily designed with European influences. The tour guide said that everything in the interior was from Europe except for the carpets and the drapes, which were Turkish. The palace is beautiful, right on the water, and very gaudy. Inside everything is covered in gold or crystal. The frame of the palace is made all of wood - unlike other older buildings in Turkey. The main reason for this was to avoid destruction by frequent earthquakes. Therefore, the pillars on the interior that appear to be marble are actually wood, covered in plaster to look like marble. The frescoes on the ceiling give the illusion that there is 3D stuff on the ceiling.. I don't know how to explain it, but it looks like there are tons of carvings up there. Too bad I couldn't take pictures inside. The ceremonial room has the biggest crystal chandelier in Turkey.... and it is certainly large. Freakishly large actually. You go into this cavernous room and it's jaw dropping. 

I'm actually leaving in 10 minutes but wanted to get this post out. I will go over it when I am back on Monday and add pictures of the palace. 

Much love!

Wish me luck on my solo adventure :)

UPDATE

 the outer gate

 the inner gate

 The palace

 The gate from the water

 walking to Attaturk's chambers

 The ginormical (yeah ginormical) chandelier. Not my picture.

the gate to the road