Turkiye and Greece - April 20, 2026

April 20, 2026

After breakfast we began our day with a bus ride through some of the city.  Istanbul dates back to roughly the fourth century BC and has had many names and many wars.  The most prevalent names have been Byzantium, Constantinople, and Istanbul.  Each time the area was conquered the victors got to rename the city if they so desired.

We spent nearly the entire day in old Istanbul, which lies in Europe.  If you cross the Bosphorus you will be in Asia.

Our day began at the Hagia Sofia, which was built some 1500 years ago when the city was called Constantinople.  It was the largest Christian church at the time.  When the Turks invaded and took over the city they named the city Istanbul and eventually changed the Hagia Sophia to a Mosque.

The tour was disappointing as the building was being renovated both inside and out.  Scaffolding nearly covered the entire structure on the outside and massive scaffolding had been erected inside.  Further, unless you were Muslim you were not allowed onto the main floor of the building.  All others were only allowed to tour the second floor, which was much like a balcony that ran around the bottom of the main dome.  I have included a few pictures that have been “borrowed” from the inter web.

A number of Christian mosaics were still viewable.  At one time they had been plastered over, but some have been restored over the years.

One in particular showed Mother Mary and the Baby Jesus and was on the ceiling of the main area.  During Muslim prayer services a curtain is drawn to cover the images and when the service is over the curtain is once again opened for viewing.

(the white areas are the curtains)

We then visited a former Sultan’s palace, now a museum.  We saw historical and religious artifacts including the Prophet David’s sword and Moses’ staff.

(David’s sword)

(Moses’ staff)

We did see a diamond pendant that Robin thought was nice.  But unfortunately it was not for sale.  It was only 86 carats along with another 49 smaller diamonds.  Oh well, nothing for our anniversary this year (ha).

We ate lunch at a Michelin starred restaurant named Matbah.  The lunch featured a number of “Ottoman Palace Cuisine” dishes.

After lunch we made a stop at a rug shop where we were treated to a demonstration of how the rugs are woven.  A LOT of time and effort goes into weaving these rugs.  It can take many years to finish a large rug.  It was interesting.  The rugs varied in price from many hundreds of dollars to upward of 120,000 dollars.  We were a little surprised by the high end.  They were pretty though.  They were also estimated to last some three hundred years.  I figured we would probably not be around when they did wear out.

We looked at a couple of runners but decided in the end to pass.

Our final stop for the day was at the Grand Bazaar.  Lots and lots of shops and a super wide variety of products.  We saw furs, leather, jewelry, dishes, chess sets, decorative items, and trinkets.

On a side note we had company for the day.  “Flat Lizzy” went with us.  She enjoyed lunch with us and also joined us at the Grand Bazaar for shopping.

For those unfamiliar to Flat Lizzy, the first grade class at school has read the book “Flat Stanley”.  The students were then given an assignment to make their own “Flat Person” and send it to someone that lives elsewhere to show what other people do and where they live.  “Flat Penny” visited the Pressler grandparents for her travels.  We are dragging “Flat Lizzy” with us on this trip so she can tell a story of travels to this region.  So far it has been fun.

In the morning we will continue our tour of the city and spend some time in another Sultan’s palace further from the town’s center.

Tomorrow will be another adventure.