In June of 2011, Jer and I took a trip to Istanbul. Everyone told us that Istanbul was a “must visit,” so we said “why not?” We were already going to be in Europe, and we wanted to see firsthand what made this city so special.

We started every day by being woken up at 5 in the morning by the call to prayer, which is broadcast via loudspeakers all over the city. It felt very interesting and foreign.

The markets are colorful and beautiful – like an indoor Aloha stadium swap meet, but neater and less chaotic.

Hagia Sophia

Visiting the Hagia Sofia was one of the highlights of our day. Built in the 500s as a church, the Aya Sofia was converted into a mosque a thousand years later, so it has Christian and Islamic features, including beautiful thousand-year-old mosaics of Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist.

Eating in Istanbul

No blog entry of mine would be complete without a mention of food. The food in Istanbul was similar to Greek mezes – lots of kebabs, pita, and stuffed grape leaves. We didn’t have anything really memorable, but nothing was really terrible, either.