Istanbul First Full Day

After receiving a couple of phone calls in the middle of the night and not sleeping much, we met Bill and Patty in the hotel's restaurant for breakfast.

We then made our way to met our guide who is with Context.

After a brief walk during which our guide, Suleyman, gave us history of Istanbul. Our first stop was the Hagia Sophia. It was built by Constantine in the sixth century, this architectural and artistic wonder reflects the essence of Istanbul through the ages, having served over the years as church, mosque, and museum, before converting back to a mosque in 2020.

Next we made our way to the Blue Mosque. Here we entered through the gate where Muslims enter instead of the visitors gate because the line was so long for the visitors gate. Prayers begin at noon and no visitors are allowed in at that time so had we had to enter through the visitors gate, we would have been standing in line forever. This just confirmed that having a knowledgeable guide is so important!

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, or Blue Mosque is a UNESCO World Heritage site, we learned about the principles of Ottoman architecture as we admired the thousands of blue Iznik tiles after which the mosque takes its name.

We had a brief coffee break before making our way to the former location of the Hippodrome. We toured these 4th-century ruins of the Roman Empire. The Hippodrome was the focal point of social life in the Byzantine period.

Next we made our was to an underground cistern where we were shown models of the Hippodrome.

Above this cistern was a Turkish rug store. We had a lesson on rug making and were shown many beautiful rugs. So far, the Kerrs have managed to keep their credit cards in their pockets.

We then made our way back to the hotel.

I made inquiries about travel insurance for a trip we are planning in 2027 and updated this blog.

We had dinner at a restaurant recommended by our guide.Read more