Pictures from Istanbul

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Istanbul. The ones from the Topkapi Palace will be up next.

The view towards the old city as we crossed the bridge to our hotel

The Blue Mosque

The dome of the Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque was not as impressive as we thought it would be. Very pretty from the outside, but the hundreds of wires holding up the lights inside kind of took away from the beauty. Right down the street, however, was the Hagia Sophia, and it was absolutely stunning! I can only imagine how spectacular it was when first completed with all the golden mosaics intact. And if you ever find yourself waiting in line to get in to it, it's worth the 15 Turkish Lira to hire a guide. You get to skip all the lines and also have someone show you all the unique and unusual parts of the museum. Our guide took us around for an hour or more. Had we done it ourselves, we would've been out of there in much less time and not learned as much about the history of the building and the sights within it.

Hagia Sophia

It was built as a Christian church, so why the dolphins and trident that represent Poseidon?

Once upon a time, the ceiling and the walls were covered in gorgeous gold mosaics like these