The Grand Bizarre

 The Grand Bizarre in Istanbul has pretty much anything you can imagine.  It is know for the spice trading, but I saw purses, watches, plates, bowels and anything else you would want.

Cathy is a fan of the spices.

The Grand Bizarre is so full of people that at some points there were people touching me from all sides and at moments like this, I am so GLAD that I live in a small town.

LeAnn likes the sausages hanging up.

This man sold LeAnn some Turkish bowels.  She worked hard at bartering...but he probably got the better deal.

Spices from every land.

The sponges hang above the spices...I hope nothing drops in!

Turkish Tulips

 Did you know that the tulip orginates in Turkey.  The Turkish people took the tulip bulb to Holland. I was in Turkey during the tulip season.  I hope you enjoy these beautiful flowers.

The Blue Mosque

Cathy and LeAnn are in front of the Blue Mosque, the biggest Mosque in Turkey.

The Blue Mosque has six pillars.  Most mosques only have 2 or 3 pillars, but this one has six.  The Sultan who commissioned the Blue Mosque told the builder the the pillars should be solid gold.  Knowing that gold pillars would not be able to stand, he had to think of a solution, because he would be killed if he did not produce what the Sultan asked for.  In Turkish the word for gold and six sound almost the same, so he built six pillars instead of gold pillars.  When the Sultan asked him about this later, he told him, he heard that he wanted six pillars and not gold pillars.  So the Sultan had the builder put gold tips on the tops of each of the pillars.  Apparently the builder was able to live out his life. 

LeAnn and Cathy wear scarfs on their heads since this is a practicing mosque.  It is called the "Blue Mosque" because of all of the blue hand painted tiles inside the mosque. 

Bonnie and LeAnn wearing head scarfs.

This is a practicing mosque, and these men are praying to Allah.

In Turkey the women do not wear burkas.   This woman (in black) is probably visiting from another Muslim country.  Her husband is helping her up the stairs.

Posing for a picture.

The Blue Mosque was build in just 7 years from 1609-1616.  The Sultan was so anxious to have the mosque completed that he often helped in the building.  He had the Blue Mosque build directly across from the Eye of Sophia to show the Islam had conquered Christianity.  Here you can see the Eye of Sophia through the gates of the Blue Mosque. 

The Food of Turkey

Turkish food is delicious.  This is a meal with meat, rice, and vegetables.   It tasted great.

One day for lunch we went to this cool place there the ladies make fresh tortillas for the wraps.

We were able to enjoy our meal sitting on cushions.  It was a fun and unique way to enjoy our food.

Another time, while we were walking near the harbor, we came across these two men.  They served us char broiled fish sandwiches with tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro, and a squirt of fresh lemon juice.  

These sandwiches were AMAZING!!!

Turkish coffee was a must, but we learned not to drink the last bit- it was filled with grounds.

Turkish tea is very wonderful!

We also enjoy a world wide favorite- Magnum Ice Cream Bars! 

The Eye of Sophia

I am standing outside of Hagia of Sophia (Eye of Sophia) with my good friend Cathy.  She lives in the capitol city of Turkey, Ankara.  As a "worker" she is learning the Turkish language.  We were roommates in Juneau, Alaska.

The Hagia of Sophia in Constantinople (now Istanbul) was dedicated to the Emperor Constantius is 360 and was called the "Great Church."  Then in 1453 the church was converted to a mosque.  It stayed this way until the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.  Now it is a museum. 

LeAnn, Cathy and I are truly tourists. 

Look at the intricate stone work.

It is so vast and huge inside.  This is just the upper half of the building.  The lower half is filled with tourists like me!

I love the beautiful iron work of this gate.

On the second floor and you see how vast this building is.

A picture of Jesus survived the mosque.

This is what the original artwork looks like.

Here you can see where a cross used to be.  When the Eye of Sophia became a mosque, the Muslim people removed anything that related to Christianity.

Ephesus

LeAnn and I caught a domish or a taxi out to Ephesus, the ancient city that Paul wrote the book of Ephesians to and the city where the apostle John lived.  It was awesome to take a walk through the streets where these great men walked. 

This is the larger theater from a distance.

We were able to walk and touch the ancient ruins of the city.   There were rows and rows of excavated pillars and stones.

LeAnn climbs to the top of the larder theater.

The view from the top of the theater is very impressive.  As you look out, you can see a road that goes out and then stops.  During Paul's lifetime, this was where the edge of the water came.  Now there is about 5 miles of land from that point to the sea.

The is the Library of Celsus.  It is extremely ornate and impressive and was used as a mausoleum for Julius Celsus Polemaeanus.  It was built between 110-135AD.  

Just across from the Library is the Bath House.  Even back in the ancient times, they had plumbing.  Which we found impressive.  You can still see the pipes which were made of clay jars that connected to each other.   Here you can potty with your friend!  Yikes!  If you look in front of me, you can see a little ditch on the floor which always had running water, so people could wash their hands. Cleanliness is super important.

On these ancient streets you can see the grooves of where the chariot wheels traveled.   Please notice the umbrellas in use...yep it rained.  Now if you know anything about marble streets, you know that the rain water is not absorbed!  When LeAnn and I reached the top of the city it began to pour.  The chariot tracks were very evident as muddy water ran down them.  At the bottom of the city people were wading into water that reached their mid-calf!  Yikes. 

My favorite thing about Ephesus was the beautiful poppy's in the mist of the ancient ruins. If you ever have the chance to travel here, please go, it is amazing.

The Castle in Kusadasi

 After a wonderful, but busy time in Moldova, it was time to see some old roommates (from Alaska) and soak up some warmth in Turkey.  I flew into Istanbul where I met up with LeAnn, who still lives in Alaska.  Then we flew on to Izmir.

LeAnn and Bonnie in the airport with Turkish tea!

After we landed in Izmir, we went to the city of Kusadasi, which is directly on the Aegean Sea.  It is a beautiful and more touristy part of Turkey.

In Kudasi there is this cool castle out on a peninsula.   Apparently it is also a night club at night, but we did not explore it then!  My Mennonite roots do not enjoy the dancing scene.

LeAnn loved this cute car parked just out front of the castle.

   

I was more impressed with the castle tower.  Inside there are beautiful gardens, but my camera's batteries died...so no pictures of that.  We also had 3 different Turkish men following us around, I think because we are Western women.  But never fear, we used our stealthy skills and lost them!