~ Turkish Delight ~ Part 8

Day 4 - Left outs and Packing

The last day in Turkey had a lot of pending tasks - first being visits to Topkapi palace and Aya Sofia.


Opposite to Blue mosque is Aya Sofia/Hagia Sofia , built in mid 400 AD is the best surviving examples of Byzantine Architecture.   It served as a cathedral for more than 1000 years, converted into a mosque by Ottomans, and now into a UNESCO heritage site and a museum.  This is one of the most impressive structures in Istanbul ((the only photo that I had).

You enter the main hall, and you are flabbergasted by its interiors, and it’s massive dome.  It’s bells, altar and all Christian elements were removed during Ottoman Empire, and were replaced with Islamic features such as Mihrab and Minarets.  Having spent some time admiring its interiors and works, we moved to Topkapi Palace, situated just behind Hagia Sofia, in a small hill.

Topkapi palace was the primary residence of Ottomans during their reign, now a UNESCO Heritage site. The interiors represented the Ottoman architecture, and their lives.  We quickly gazed through them due to insufficient time. 

We gave final looks to Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia and Topkapi Palace, and left to our Hotel.  Packed our luggage, had lunch, and spent sometime with Rhonda, Jeannie and her cute 4 month old baby girl Lira.  They were extremely friendly, and were the best guides/friendly hotel staff ever.  They were Canadians settled in Turkey, for Jeannie married Hassan, a Turkish entrepreneur.  Jeannie and Rhonda started this Modern Sultan Hotel some 7-8 years ago.  Though small, they provided great service.  They gave a lot of guidance about the place, backgrounds about the history,where to see what, where to eat etc., and Hassan (Jeannie's husband) took us to Grand Bazaar to help us with purchase.  We said goodbyes to all of them, to the hotel, mosque, churches, museums, palaces, restaurants that fed us, grand bazaar, and sultanahmet area, and finally reached Ataturk airport to board our flight.   

It was overall a pleasant and memorable journey.  And now, I still feel bad for not able to upload even a single picture.  Plus, I understand, how difficult it is to bear such long posts without any pictures!!!   
With this, the long Turkish saga is over. 

PS: Thanks for bearing the long+ no photo-only text posts.  I wrote them so elaborately, that later, maybe after 5 or 10 years, I read them and bring back my memory to Turkey.  By so, I will not worry for having no photos!!