Istanbul - The Basilica Cistern and Hagia Sophia

This morning we got the boot from the ship and dragged our bags to where our hotel driver picked us up. In a scant few kilometres, we were delivered to our home for the next three days, Hotel Hagia Sophia. This place is in the heart of the old city, with fairly stunning views of the real Hagia Sophia - once church, then mosque, now museum - from the hotel terrace and our room.

It was still too early to get into our room, which by the way, they upgraded as soon as Dawn asked, "Do we have a stunning view?" Therefore, we headed off to do some exploring. A mere 50 metres from the front door of the hotel was the entrance to the Basilica Cistern, which featured prominently in Dan Brown's last book, Inferno. This 5th century cistern which has had numerous refurbishes over the years was a pretty awesome place where we thought the Phantom of the Opera would feel quite at home. Christine!

Right across the street from the cistern was Hagia Sophia, potentially the most famous landmark in Istanbul. Since it was closed tomorrow, we figured we might as well get in the long line and make the visit. As we were queuing, a young man named Mohamet asked us if he could help us spend our money. We liked his approach and hired him as a guide. He quickly got us to the front of the line and we ended up spending a fascinating two hours with him in the museum.

Hagia Sophia was initially constructed in 300 AD but that structure is all but gone. The next two phases of construction, started in the 6th century are what we see today. This basilica with its central dome is considered the greatest work of Byzantine architecture in the world and was the principal church in the Byzantine Empire for more than nine centuries. With the onset of the Ottoman Empire it became a mosque. They did not destroy the Christian embellishments but rather covered them up. For example the angel shown in the following photo, became what the second picture depicts during the mosque era.

The massive interior of this church/mosque is truly impressive.

The last picture is one of the Christian mosaics which were somewhat restored following the mosque's conversion to a museum. Gotta love the expression on Jesus' face as he is confronted by a somewhat fallen woman to the left of him. We were so happy with the tour that Mohamet gave us that we hired him for a tour further downtown tomorrow. We finally got checked into our rooms - gigantic compared to the ship's stateroom. Then we set out to see if we could find some wine in a muslim city. I wandered down into a covenience store and immediately got asked if I was looking for wine. Boy, we Westerners read like a book! We succeeded selecting some wine and got some nice views along the way.

The majority of muslim woman in Istanbul are not covered with scarf or burka, but those that are, are pretty classy. Mohamet gave us the best explanation for the covering of woman and their segregation in the mosques. The true muslim man goes to the mosque to pray and dedicate that time to God. As they prostrate themselves before god, they do not wish to be distracted by a female derrier in front of them. Also the lips of women are considered very sexual and are therefore covered by some. So the bottom line is that muslim men like most men in the world are sexual pigs and need help controlling their urges. Encouraging! When we got back to the hotel, Hagia Sophia looked like this from our window as we played cards.

I have to say that we are finding the people of Istanbul extremely friendly and helpful. For example, I approached an Uzi carrying policeman today and said "We love your city". He smiled and said thank you and proceeded to tell us about the slightly decrepit building in front of which he was standing. He explained that it was was from the Ottoman period, but had been abandonned and now was a tourist police station. I said it needed some love. He smiled and invited me to come anytime I liked to fix it up. Probably not happening! Anyway, everyone has been really nice! We had a fabulous meal tonight not far from the hotel. Both couples opted for a testi kebabi, lamb for Dawn and I and chicken for Tony and Jackie. It came to the table in flaming clay pots. They served us some of the stew from the pots and then ceremoniously whacked the top off the top of the pots and served us the rest. Wow!

The area around the hotel is packed with interesting restaurants. Time isn't going to allow us to experience many of them, so for the next two days we'll have to be particular about our choices.