It is said that Istanbul is where the west meets the east. Approximately 3 percent of Turkey is in Europe and the rest is in the east. Part of Istanbul is on the Europe side and part is on the Asia side, with approximately 15 million people calling Istanbul home. I think 10 million of them have vehicles. (Ok, maybe not 10 million, but a lot of cars driving around there.) And they are skilled, crazy drivers. Be prepared for traffic; that's all I'm sayin'. Lots of sites to visit. Also, the architecture around the (old) city is impressive.
Visiting Istanbul, I learned a lot. It was the first time I visited mosques. And the tour guide patiently answered all my questions. Since this is the first time I really had the opportunity to discuss Islam and mosques, there were many. In Turkey, you are free to practice which ever religion you like. However, approximately 95 percent of the people in Turkey are Islamic. Of those, 20 percent practice daily. Muslims pray 5 times a day, facing Mecca. It takes around 30 minutes if you are at a mosque. If you are by yourself, you can pray in about 5 minutes. If inside the mosque is full, the people will pray in the court yard. This mostly occurs during holidays. There are no pews, it is more a big, empty room. Men and women do not pray together, with women in the back/not seen. Women wear scarfs to cover their hair. This scarf can be any color (I brought a deep purple one with me). Everyone washes outside before going inside to pray. And you have to take off your shoes before going inside. The mosques I visited had plastic bags so you could carry your shoes. People do not get married in the mosques. The ceremonies are done by the state, not religion. However, some do go to pray at the mosques after the ceremony.
 |
| Blue Mosque |
The Blue Mosque is the most famous one. This mosque has blue tile all over inside, hence the name. I also saw the
Süleymaniye Mosque, 2nd largest mosque in the city. And the prettier one, in my opinion. The minaret is the tall, slender, tower situated at the corners of the mosque. The Blue Mosque is the only mosque with 6 minarets. The number of minarets kinda tell you how large the mosque is. Most mosques in Istanbul have the domes, however, this is not a requirement.
 |
| Tile inside the Blue Mosque |
 |
| Inside Süleymaniye Mosque |
 |
| Hagia Sophia |
The Hagia Sophia use to be an Orthodox Basilica. Then a mosque. Now it is a Museum. If a church becomes a mosque, many times the faces of animals and people will be scratched out. This is because in Islam, faces are not allowed in mosques. The mosaic below survived because it is on the outer parts of the church, not where people who are praying can see it. Also, it is considered the finest mosaic in the museum because of the soft features. You can't tell well from the picture, but you can see the different skin colors. It is beautiful.
 |
| Mosaic inside the Hagia Sophia |
The Covered Bazaar was the first shopping mall in the world. It has 4,000 shops. Yes, you can easily get lost in the maze (though I managed just fine-I'm good like that). You can buy just about anything there I think. Especially jewelry, pottery, rugs, and junk. The Spice Market is similar, but more Turkish people actually shop there. And lots of spices. I practiced willpower and didn't purchase anything at either place.
 |
| Grand Bazaar |
 |
| Spice Market |
I also visited the Basilica Cistern. The cistern, with 336 marble columns, held water, having 4 meter, waterproof thick walls. For some reason, there are 2 Medusa face statues at the bottom of 2 columns. One face is upside down and one is sideways. The scientist decided this was deliberately done. Not sure how they determined that exactly. If you think you have seen this cistern before, it is because part of one of the 007 movies,
From Russia With Love, was filmed here.
I walked around the
Dolmabahçe Palace. This palace is located on the Bosphorus strait. It is stunning. They don't let you take pictures inside though. Maybe google it? Regardless, it has a crystal staircase. Really, we all should have this feature in our houses. Stunning. Multiple sultans live here. Well, they lived in the Harem, which connected to the palace. Harem means prohibited. The multiple wives had multiple rooms. The Queen Mother kept them apart (with good reason). The Ceremonial Hall's dome was huge, and the room is breathtaking.
I also visited Topkapi Palace. It includes 3 gates just to get to the buildings where the sultans lived. When a sultan died, his sons would fight to the death to take his place. Eventually, the oldest son became sultan (the fighting thing weakened the empire). This is the largest palace in the world, according to the guide. The Treasury has the most famous dagger in the world. It has 3 large emeralds on it. The dagger was suppose to be a gift for the Shiek of Iran, but he died before it was delivered, so the sultan kept it. I don't blame him. It is impressive. I believe the dagger was featured in movie
Topkapi. I haven't seen either of the movies, so I will take the guide's word on this.
And finally, for some food. Turkish pizza (pretty good):
Christine
Turkey is known for it's carpets. This go round, I was strong and did not purchase any. Who knows next time. I visited a place that shows demonstrations of weaving and sell carpets. The salesman will give you whatever drink you like (I had apple chi) and then show tons of carpets. They just continue to roll them out. And the salesman insisted that customers take off their shoes and walk on the carpets. From experience, you can feel the difference between wool, cotton, and silk. And boy is the silk carpet expensive. He showed one that cost $153,000. 
