sChmo0kler

Muscat, Oman

A little farewell dinner with friends lasted late into the night, just ending early enough for my 4:50 am flight to Istanbul.  As it turned out, 2am in the airport is way, way early. The check-in gates weren’t even open yet.  Just had to wait it out.

When boarding time came, I was really delighted that we were only a handful of passengers, maybe 15-20 as the flight is around 4-5 hours I think.  It was uneventful enough, and I tried to doze of as I’ve been awake for the past 20 hours already.  But  although I had all 3 seats to myself, I just cant seem to sleep…

Ataturk International Airport, Istanbul, Turkey

Seeing Istanbul skyline in the morning is unbelievable! The weather LOOKED so cool, and after the heat and dryness of Oman, it was a very welcome change.  So first, I had to clear immigration, claim baggage and head to the hotel.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as it was supposed to be.  Nobody was waiting for me when I finally came out! Confirming it with our contacts over the phone was difficult as they speak very little English.  And a couple of men were offering me shuttle services to the hotel. Thinking that was my ride, I went to their counter only to find out I have to pay 30 euros! Good thing I was stubborn enough to wait it out. Even though I changed 50 usd upon getting off the plane, I was counting on the fact that big hotels have free airport shuttles.  So when i finally saw the mini-bus with the hotel logo, I immediately dashed out and was greeted by very pleasant, cool, cool 17 degree morning air all around. Sigh…

Crowne Plaza Hotel

Barely clearing the security at the hotel lobby, I heard my name exclaimed.  There was Madam Huweyda, just getting off the elevator and waiting anxiously for me as she came in the night before from France.  As it turned out, nobody came to pick her up at the airport also. Since it was late, she had no choice but to rent that shuttle for 40usd.  Little did we know that these expensive rates and prices are actually all over Turkey! 

hotel scenic elevator 

view riding to the 15th floor

Hastily ditching my luggage in our room, we headed for breakfast and planned the day.  Apparently, we had 3 free days in Istanbul before heading out to Belek in Antalya! Oh joy! We actually wondered how that could be as to my knowledge we were supposed to be visiting factories and showrooms of the supplier.   But a gift is a gift =)  Since Huweyda had been here before, she recommended going to Sultanahmet and Taksim.  Inquiring at the reception, it turned out they have free shuttle services to this 2 tourist places. All we have to do is show up at appointed places according to the schedule.  Very convenient indeed!

Sultanahmet

This the old, old area of the city where landmark buildings like the Hagia Sophia, Hagia Irene, Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque are walking distances within one another.  Oh my.  I was so excited to see these ancient structures that I have studied and eventually taught about in school!

The Hagia Sophia

This structure was first built by Emperor Constantine in 60 A.D.  It was burned and destroyed by countless riots and was later rebuilt by Emeperor Justinian in 532 as a symbol of ‘renewed unity’ between the divided Roman Empire.  As the name says, it is dedicated to Holy Wisdom.  It was designed by the mathematicians Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus as a rectangular basilica supported by 107 pillars.  In 1453, the church was converted to  a mosque and a century later, was renovated by the architect Sinan.  In modern times, the architect brothers Gaspare and Giuseppe Fossati undertook repairs in 1847.   In 1934, the building was closed for worship and became a museum.

 aya sofiya, istanbul 

So I got majority of this rephrased info from the tour map.  Seeing it face to face with all its grandeur and history was really cool.  I remember a first-year professor would sternly volunteeer(command) her students to draw hagia sophia on the blackboard.  I mean, try drawing that in perspective! Not wanting to be overwhelmed now  , we just strolled around inside and took snaps.  But I was kicking  myself for not having a better camera!  A digital slr at least, instead of the olympus 6mp we brought. 

 by the main entrance

 with huweyda

Sultanahmet Mosque or the Blue Mosque

Sultanahmet Mosque was built between 1610-1617 by Sedefkar Mehmet Aga, a student of Sinan (read back Hagia Sophia).  This mosque is the only one in Istanbul with 6 minarets.  The interiors are decorated with more than 20,000 iznik tiles with plant & flower motifs in predominating shades of blue and torquoise. 

sultanahmet and fountain at the back 

We were not able to go inside as there were throngs of people and we have to remove our shoes.  Now, I’m banging my head to the wall why I didn’t push through with it.  But no matter, we had several fun snaps all around.

Exiting to the right of the mosque, we came out a relatively quiet street were I saw an obelisk, not knowing it was an original Egyptian column, Dikilitas.  It was brought from the temple of Luxor, Egypt in 390 A.D. and was set up by Theodisius I.  And that was the only column I saw since we turned back to where we came from to go shopping!  The Dikilitas was one of three, the other two being the Serpent Column and the Column of Constantine.  These 3 columns were unearthed in the ruins of a great Hippodrome just beside Sultanahmet Mosque, beyond the German Fountain, which was a gift from Kaiser William II in the early 1900’s.

dikilitas