The Ambitious Odometer: Asia

Thursday, June 23, 2022

{EUROPE} Day Fifteen - Istanbul, Turkey

Today we learned that not only is Turkey a transcontinental country spanning both Asia (majority) and Europe, but that Istanbul (not Constantinople) is actually a transcontinental city, too! The Bosphorus is a natural strait that divides the two continents...

We docked mid-morning and met up with our tour group first thing. Our guide was great and taught us all about Istanbul (not Constantinople), that it dates back to the 7th century BC and is currently the largest city in both Turkey and all of Europe, with over 18 million residents.

As we headed over to our first stop, we passed the old walls of the city...

We made our first stop at the impressive, Hagia Sophia, a church turned mosque...

It was originally built in 537 and was considered the largest Christian church in the Byzantine Empire...

In the mid 1400s, it was converted into a mosque, and the minarets were added after this time...

As we entered the gates, the girls and I had to make sure both our heads and shoulders were covered..

and as we entered the mosque, we all had to remove our shoes. We learned, from our guide, that this practice is purely for sanitary reasons as when they pray, the often touch their foreheads to the ground and this helps to keep the floors free of street dirt.

The mosque was absolutely breathtaking inside...

and right as we left, it shut down to visitors and we were able to hear the singing and prayers begin...

From there, we walked through the Hippodrome area, now called Sultanahmet Square...

where we saw a couple of important obelisks, including the Obelisk of Theodosius...

and the Walled Obelisk...

on our way to another carpet demonstration (and more importantly, air conditioning, a comfy place to sit, and more apple tea!)...

Even better than all of that, underneath the carpet shop sits one of the original, underground cisterns...

Afterwards, we visited the Blue Mosque...

which, even though it is currently under renovation, is just beautiful...

The mosque was constructed over a span of 7 years (1609-1616), and gets its name from the hand painted blue tiles used inside...

Someday, I would love to see it without all of the scaffolding...

The last stop of the day was the Grand Bazaar, considered to be one of the first shopping malls in the world!

We had a bit of a walk over to it...

but it was neat to see the restaurants and colorfully decorated streets...

We grabbed a late lunch...

and some more apple tea...

before heading in to check out the bazaar...

It was such a neat experience, and nothing like I thought it would be...

Heading back to our bus, we saw more colorful architecture...

What a day in Istanbul (not Constantinople)!

Though we remained on the European side today, on our way back to the port, our guide shared more about the Asian side of Istanbul (not Constantinople)...

Most of it was developed in the 1950s and is connected to the older, European side by the Bosphorus Bridge...

which we saw a good view of as we sailed away, even though it was a bit rainy and foggy - the European side to the left, and the Asian side to the right...

While there are 2 airports, 2 ports, etc. in order to service both the European and Asian sides of the city, our guide said that the natives just think of the Asian side as another neighborhood of sorts.

Our brief time in Istanbul (not Constantinople) was different that I thought it would be, and I hope that maybe we will get to visit again someday.

Back to Greece, tomorrow

More {EUROPE} 2022 Fun

Day One - Barcelona Day 1
Day Two – Barcelona Day 2
Days Three & Four – Barcelona Day 3 + AT SEA
Days Five & Six – Gibraltar + AT SEA
Day Seven – Marseille, France
Day Eight – Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure & Portofino (Genoa), Italy
Day Nine – Pisa (Livorno), Italy
Day Ten – Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
Days Eleven & Twelve – Pompeii (Naples), Italy + AT SEA
Day Thirteen – Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Day Fourteen – Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey
Day Sixteen – Mykonos, Greece
Day Seventeen – Athens, Greece + HOME!

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

{EUROPE} Day Fourteen - Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey

What an incredible day!

We docked early in Kusadasi...

what is considered a resort town...

along the Aegean Sea...

Kusadasi comes from a combination of the Turkish words "bird" and "island" and is connected to the smaller island, Guvercinada ("Pigeon Island") by a manmade causeway...

Shortly after docking, we met up with our tour group and learned that though Turkey is considered a transcontinental country, the majority of it lies in Asia Minor, described by our tour guide as like a bridge between Europe and the Middle East...

So, described in that way, this is definitely the most unique country we've ever visited - a new one for all of us, and coincidently, a new continent for the kids and me!

We chose the tour based in and around Ephesus for its importance to us, as Christians...

We boarded the bus...

{Tell me you're in Turkey without telling me you're in Turkey - seen on the steps of our tour bus!}

and made our first stop at the site of the Basilica of St. John and entered through the Gate of Persecution...

The ruins of the church sit on the slope of Ayasuluk Hill...

The church was originally built as a sort of mausoleum over the Apostle John's believed burial site...

though, the underground tomb is empty today...

Within the church remains, there are certain defined areas...

including the baptistry...

which was designed to be entered West to East so that one would walk into the light and leave darkness behind...

From there, we continued on to the House of the Virgin Mary, which sits outside the walls of Ephesus...

It is believed that when the Apostle John was exiled from Ephesus, Mary moved to this area outside of the city walls and lived here the remainder of her life...

The home has been reconstructed on the original foundation...

Though no photos were allowed inside, the home consists of a large entry room that holds an altar and a smaller room to the right where it is believed that Mary slept...