5.30.06 Istanbul, Turkey

We began our last day in Turkey early, with about our 10,000^th group photograph, this one with the Blue Mosque in the background. Our guide from Topkapi Palace yesterday met us and took us around the area where the Hippodrome had been. The stadium for chariot races and other events had held 100,000 spectators and been the site of the slaughter of some 30,000 people at the time of the Nika Revolt against Emperor Justinian in AD 532. The site is now a park containing such points of interest as the Egyptian Obelisk, from the fifteenth century BC, which was brought to Constantinople in the 390s, and the Serpentine Column.

The rebel forces in the Hippodrome area today consist of an army of hawkers. Their favored marketing tactic is to give you something. “Here, take it; it’s my gift to you. It’s free. I like America.” Then the gift-giver says, “But I am in business, and I wonder if you could make a donation.” If your donation isn’t large enough, he takes back his “gift.”

Then we went into the Blue Mosque. Built for Sultan Ahmet in 1609-1616 with the intent of outdoing Justinian’s Hagia Sophia of more than a thousand years before, the Blue Mosque is spectacular. The name derives from the 20,000 brilliant, shimmering blue tiles on the inside. Ahmet had the building constructed with six minarets, equal the number on the Elharam Mosque in Mecca. He was, however, later persuaded to send his architect to Mecca to add a seventh minaret there to restore the primacy of Elharam.

The only problem with the inside of the Blue Mosque (as with the Süleyman) is all the wires or ropes that hang down to hold suspended lighting. They obscure a clear view of the dome and of the walls.

On our walk across the park between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, we came upon some costumed cherry juice-sellers. (Cherries and cherry juice are almost as big here as tea is.) They, too, give you juice and then ask for a donation. After giving me juice, one of them asked how many Turkish Lira I had. I said, truthfully, that I had none on me at the moment, but would give him a dollar. I took out my wallet and he started running his fingers through the few dollars in cash I had in it, apparently looking for lira. I quickly pulled the wallet away and offered him a dollar. The other guy said to him, “Take it; it’s worth more.” He did.

Hagia Sophia has long been one of the places in the world I most wanted to see. It turned out to be something of a disappointment. It is, to be sure, an architectural wonder, especially considering that it was constructed nearly 1500 years ago. The dome is huge and awesome, but the interior is, except in a few places, dark and forbidding. Much of the art was plastered over or removed when the Ottomans turned the building into a mosque. (It is neither a church nor a mosque today, but officially a museum). A few of the mosaics have been uncovered or restored, but there is a huge amount of barren wall space. The building has been damaged by several earthquakes since it was built, beginning in 532. They have left tilting columns and other deformations. Without the minarets that the Turks added, the building would have collapsed—which seems like something of a metaphor for interfaith cooperation.

Next we were off to the Grand Bazaar. This is one of the more remarkable places in the world, with some 4,000 shops in a maze of 65 narrow, winding streets, all under a roof. The signs like ones in the United States that might proudly proclaim: “Est. 1967” say: “Kapali çarşi - Since 1461.” Accompanied by Sabri’s younger brother as our guide and negotiator, Tyree, Anne, and I made some good purchases. About a half hour before we were scheduled to leave, I separated from them to go back and take a photo. I anticipated no problem finding my way back to our agreed upon meeting place. But I quickly got lost in the maze of “streets” in the bazaar. I started to get concerned, not about my own situation, but about Anne worrying about me. Finally I ran into Robert Connolly and other members of the group that had Sabri as their guide. I knew Sabri could call his brother on his cell phone and tell Anne I was OK, but Sabri was in a mosque praying, so we had to wait another ten minutes before making the call.

We proceeded by taxi to board a boat for a lunch cruise on the Bosporus. It was a most pleasant way (for everyone but Angela and Amy, who suffered from seasickness) to end our sightseeing. The sky was brilliant blue—the clear, bright Aegean area skies we had long heard about. We passed Dolmabahçe Palace, Beylerbeyi Palace, and the beautiful residential area of Bebek on the European side, and the Rumeli Hisari (Thracian Castle), built on the Asian side by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1452, as he prepared to lay siege to Constantinople. The Byzantines watched nervously from across the Bosporus as the castle-fort was constructed. They were conquered the following year. Lunch was very good, including anchovies, which Anne loves and I hate, but these were in vinegar and I liked them and she didn’t.

After dinner back at the hotel, we all gave our comments on the trip for the camera. I’ll save my summary for my last entry on the way home.

- RSM