My last attempt at blogging was my first ever and I wasn't so pleased with it. This second try hasn't started out quite right yet, either, and so I hope my third attempt is better or there won't be a fourth!!! :)
On Wednesday, the 24th we were in Istanbul. It was freezing!!! But, we had sights to see and we were tourists - what matters sleet or rain or freezing hands - on to the sights!!
This is Paul and Clarissa standing outside of the Blue Mosque with the Aya Sofia in the background
Inside the Blue Mosque. The pictures don't really do it justice. It has several, like 6 or more huge domes and they are all painted and/or tiled and it is really quite beautiful and peaceful. We all had to take off our shoes and carry them thru the building with us. The carpets are soft...
Not far from our hotel is an old hippodrome - or a big stadium where they would have held races and whatever else they wanted. In the middle of the track (think Ben Hur) they had these tall pillars - this one used to be snakes wrapped around each other - they are a thousand or so years old. The ground level is about 8 feet below us - it has built up that much throughout the years.
Looking carefully you can see the snake pillar and the tall one is an egyptian obelisk that was brought here looooooong ago. I could make up a date.... it is from the 8th century!!
Such the international travelers! Thanks again for sharing your unique perspective on things old and unfamiliar to most of the rest of us.
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