So I have been in Istanbul for the last five days. It is an absolutely wonderful city! The area where I am living is beautiful and my school, Bogazici Universitesi, is more or less on the Bosphorus Straight (Bogazici in Turkish.) It is an amazing view. I am in an area of Istanbul called Etiler. Just below me (the school is on one of the many hills that line the Bosphorus) is the area of Bebek. It has many posh restaurants but is directly on the water. It’s quite expensive, although the food is really good! There are some outdoor markets as well which are nice. Then there is Istiklal Caddim, a large avenue around Taksim Square, a very long avenue with many shops, restuarants, durums, lounges, and some very good smoked Chestnuts!

Yesterday, I went to the old city where the Sultanahmet Camii (or The Blue Mosque) and the Hagia Sophia are located. It is quite difficult to explain to you how in awe I was when I was there. Sultanahmet Camii is one of the most historical mosques in Turkey and is actually the national mosque here. It was built around 1600. It’s actually called the Blue Mosque because of the blue tiling that is found inside. Unfortunately I couldn’t go into the actual praying area where the tiles are found because just as my friends and I were about to enter, they closed it off to the public so that they could do their call to prayer. However, I was in the courtyard and it is beautiful!! Even before you enter, for those who want to pray need to wash their hands, feet, and face. It was a long row of fountains just in the front. The courtyard had great architecture with sandstone and marble and floor and ceiling paintings! There are three large mosques in the area. What was really cool was listening to 3 mosques do the call to prayer at the same time!

Afterwards, we went across the square the Hagia Sophia. In the cobblestone streets in front of it, there was actually a movie about police being shot. They were all on their motorcycles and some doing stunts; it was sort of funny watching an up-to-date thing being made in front of an ancient monument. But the inside of the Hagia Sophia was wonderful. I took at tour with a friend. It was rebuilt 3 times. The first two were destroyed and only bits and pieces of the second one still remain, but the third one has been around since the 500s. It was a church and the center of the Byzantine empire. But then in 1453 when the Ottoman Turks took over, it became a mosque and Christian symbols except for those of Christ and Mary were covered because there are no icons in the Islamic religion. So instead, there are discs all around the structure with Arabic calligraphy expressing the different Islamic forefathers and fundamentals of the religion. Actually, there are some calligraphy discs produced by sultans. In fact a lot of sultans had other trade skills, usually as calligraphers, in case something were to happen to their reign! Nowadays, the Hagia Sophia is just museum and has no religious affiliation.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will head back to the old city to the Grand Bazaar. Maybe I will find some cool things there!

Well, gorusuruz!