Day 4 [May 11 2010]

Our group woke up from a wonderful night’s sleep (a solid 9 hours!) refreshed and optimistic. This time, we would be heading out for the Dolmabahce Palace (Pronounced like Dome-Ah-Bahtch-Ay), the Istanbul Archaeological Museum and then for the famous Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.

            After refueling on a perfectly delicious breakfast with heavenly mocha cappuccinos, we hopped on our bus for a ride over the Golden Horn to the Dolmabahce. To explain to all who don’t understand the geography of Istanbul, it is a city that sits on a large straight connecting the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea. This is the only city in the world that is both in Europe and Asia. We spent all of our time on the European side, which is divided in two by a large bay known as the Golden Horn. Our hotel is in the old city district, on one side of the Horn, and the Dolmabahce is in the new city district, on the other side.

            We soon arrived at the stunning Palace. Our first greeting was a beautiful front gate and tower and several heft security guards. After security, we entered the front gate into a courtyard garden leading to the inner building. The building has the original wooden flooring so we had to put on pink bootie shoe covers. For some reason, the palace had a no photography rule and we soon learned why. The massive royal abode is covered in gold leaf engravings, solid gold china sets and 2+ ton solid crystal chandeliers. If people took pictures, the 1 hour tour would easily take at least 5 hours.

            After this incredible palace, we hopped in the bus for a ride to the Blue Mosque. Also known as Sultanahmet Camii, it was built by the city of Istanbul by 1616 AD. It is currently used by Muslims actively, and is the most prominent mosque for miles around. Here are some interesting facts about requirements before entering a mosque. You have to take your shoes off, if you’re going to pray you must wash your feet, knees and shoulders must be covered, and you shouldn’t speak loudly.

            On our way to lunch, the mosques began playing their blazing loudspeakers with prayer hymns to remind Muslims that it was prayer time. You can pray wherever you are, as Muhammad states in the Qur’an that ‘All the world is a Mosque’. People will typically go to a Mosque to pray if convenient and they are nearby.

            I had a lunch of fish and something resembling a fried meatball with mashed potatoes on top. For dessert, I had some Turkish ice cream; it tastes the same as American ice cream but it can be speared on a metal scoop and spun around like very thick dough. It is scooped with a flat square and is very dense, but the only difference in flavor is it’s more creamy and has a slight musty accent.

            Our next visit was  to the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. The IAM (No, not a piece of dog food.) contains many archaeological finds, from a comprehensive tile collection to the supposed sarcophagus of Alexander the Great. Big Alex turns out to have not been left there, and his actual location and method of death remains unknown.

            Finally, we reached the much awaited Hagia Sophia. Its name meaning ‘Lover of Knowledge’, this building was originally constructed as an early Christian church for many centuries until the Ottomans captured Istanbul. As is the tradition, the Ottomans would always take the most prominent building of worship in a captured city and convert it to Islam. The Hagia Sophia was particularly easy to convert; since the shape was already a large dome with corners, all they had to do was construct four minarets and plaster over the pictures of Mary and Jesus. Because Islam believes that Jesus was one of the great prophets (along with Adam, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, and David), they would not destroy the wall tiling. It turns out, the plaster helped immensely to protect the paintings and as a result they’re 100% intact.

            After this, we left for the hotel and had dinner. We played some ‘You’re a Liar’ (also known as B.S.) and had Turkish delight, and I went to post some of my blog. I found that out of the few countries in the world that has banned YouTube, Turkey is one of them. The reason is that Greeks and Turks have recently been exchanging video insults, including claims that the Turkish President is gay. The government was outraged, and ruled it unlawful until further hearing. Turkey has fairly little freedom of speech, and you are not allowed to denounce the Prime Minister or Turkishness.