Istanbul

We awoke this morning and had breakfast on the roof terrace of our hotel, long before the sun rose. Our backdrop was the Parthenon, dramatically lit as the star of the city.

Our morning was dedicated simply to travel back to Istanbul, but then we went into high gear. We grabbed a quick snack—and by quick, I mean that our guide Ozan stuck his head out of our bus and flagged down a street vendor to provide “simit,” a Turkish sesame bread, similar to a pretzel or bagel. Then it was on to the heart of the old city.

Istanbul is a fascinating city that straddles two continents—Asia and Europe—separated only by the Bosporus Strait. It is a city of 16 million people and countless more travelers from every part of the world. We visited the Blue Mosque, nicknamed that because of its stunning glazed tile inside. We took off our shoes and covered our heads out of respect of their tradition to see the inside. In the same area, we walked through the ancient hippodrome, or horse track, still marked by an obelisk at each end. One of the obelisks was taken from Egypt during the Roman period, but it was created around 1450 BC during the reign of Ramses II. It was so large, that only the top third ever made it to its present location.

The mix of visitors to the city was impactful to us, since we Christians were in the minority here. The culture is unique—very cosmopolitan and technologically advanced, but also with ancient roots. We sensed that most in the Grand Bazaar—a labyrinth of ancient, arch-covered streets lined with over 4,000 shops. Pottery, rugs, coffee, jewelry, spices, tea—it was an overload of sights and smells. Yes, we may have bought a few things.

We finished off our evening at a lovely seafood dinner next to the water of the Bosporus and gave Ozan our thanks. We are exhausted! But we have one more sight tomorrow morning before we fly out of Istanbul. . . .