Day 2 started out with a beautiful sunrise and enjoying our blackberry tea from the day before.

Today was all about seeing the historical sites of Istanbul. We were originally planning on seeing The Blue Mosque first and doing Hagia Sophia the next morning, however, The Blue Mosque was closed until March 1 for renovations. So it was off to see Hagia Sophia! Thankfully the line had died down a little bit by the time we joined it. For those that may not remember learning about Hagia Sophia in history (trust me I didn’t…), it is one of the oldest buildings in the city. The one that is still standing today is actually the third building (as the first two had wooden roofs and were burned to the ground in 404 AD and 532 AD). This building today was completed in 537 AD and has been passed through many hands throughout history from the Greek Orthodox faith to Islam and even Catholicism for a short period. From 1935 to 2020, the legendary structure was operated as a museum by the national government. It was only reclassified as a mosque in 2020. Walking into the Hagia Sophia, women must wear head coverings and everyone must remove their shoes prior to entering the central area. Once in, you could marvel at the beauty of the dome and the intricate details that were put in place so many years ago. It amazed me the amount of detail in every column, tile, and wall these workers put into this building. It was also interesting to see the influence from both religions in the art within the building. Angels were located on the four corners of the building (3 of which had their faces covered and one had been recently revealed during renovations in 2009). We did notice the mural of Mary holding baby Jesus on the throne was purposely covered by white tapestry.

After spending some time walking through and reading about the history of Hagia Sophia, it was off to explore Basilica Cistern. And we had thankfully made it into the mosque before they closed it down for prayer time. The cistern turned out to be a few years older than the Hagia Sophia and also played an important role in Istanbul’s history as it provided the water system for the city during the Constantinople (Roman ruled) period since the surrounding seas are saltwater. The cistern was recently renovated during COVID and was just reopened to the public a few months ago. There were pieces of modern art scattered throughout the walkways along with the ancient structures, particularly the inverted Medusa head. You could tell they added stabilizers to the columns as a good chunk of the columns had large cracks near the bases.

Adding on to our tourist events of the day, we ended in Topkapi Palace where Ottoman sultans lived in the empire’s strongest days. Grant offered to head back after we grabbed lunch at the cafe on the first lawn in the palace grounds to warm up (as I was freezing). But we (mainly me) pushed through the cold to explore what the palace had to offer. Again the detail and beauty they put into their buildings during the Ottoman period is amazing. I enjoyed walking through the small galleries they had (mostly for the warmth they provided) but also for the various articles they displayed from clocks, swords, armor, jars, and fine China given to the sultans from different countries as gifts. The garden near the back of the palace offered a beautiful view of the Asian side of Istanbul across the Bosphorous. Grant enjoyed taking several photographs and trying to get that perfect panorama.

We also had noticed a bunch of birds that we were pretty sure were parakeets but we felt were out of place given how Istanbul is not exactly tropical. We were correct and found on the internet that there are a number of urban legends surrounding the parakeet population in Istanbul: some theorize they got out of an old trading ship centuries ago, while the less fun theory is people had them as pets and didn’t want them anymore so set them free and they multiplied.

Thankfully we were done with our tour of the palace before it started to rain on us. Though the rain made for a slippery walk down some of the cobblestone streets. The walk back to the Airbnb included walking on the rails of the metro. The video below shows just how close you get to them as they pass you by.

Again the jet lag caught up to us and our night ended early. Thankfully we feel we have finally time adjusted after this night.

Random tidbits:

• People have no fear just crossing the street without the green go ahead sign
• Another crazy driving city- cars really don’t pay attention to the lanes