Turkyie and Greece - April 21, 2026

April 21, 2026

Today started like nearly every other vacation day.  We woke up, got dressed, and had breakfast.  Afterward we headed out for another tour of the city.

On the way to the Blue Mosque we stopped in the area that used to be a Roman hippodrome, the horse racing arena (think Ben Hur).  You could still tell where the track was located.  The grandstands of course are long gone and have been replaced by buildings, but you still got a sense of their location and the sheer size of the arena.

Still located in the hippodrome area were a couple of original columns.  One was Roman and was built with blocks.  The other was Egyptian and was made of one large limestone column.  You could even tell where the original ground level was.  Over time the ground level has risen or filled in.

There is an interesting story regarding the Egyptian column.  It was originally thirty meters tall but the largest ship of the day that could transport the column was only twenty-six meters tall.  So they cut off seven meters from the bottom of the column.  Now it is only twenty-three meters tall.

The Blue Mosque was built around 1600.  This mosque featured ‘elephant leg’ columns, beautiful blue tiles throughout (hence the name), and a massive center dome.  Unlike the Hagia Sofia we were allowed to wander into the main worship area.  This area was carpeted with a bright red rug.  Shoes had to be removed so as not to unduely soil the rug.  We were allowed to wander fairly freely with only a  few areas off limits.

When our time was up at the Blue Mosque we traveled to Asia for lunch.  On the return trip we stopped at Beylerbeyi Sarayi Palace, one of the Sultan’s Summer Palaces.  It contained all the original furniture and fixtures.  It would easily compare to one of the mansions in Newport, Rhode Island.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped for a quick visit to the Spice Bazaar.  We sampled some Turkish Delights and brewed tea.  It was very good.  We couldn’t help but purchase some spices.  We look forward to some dishes made with our finds.

Our last stop was the hotel.  Not wanting to call it a complete day we walked down the street looking for a place for a quick dinner.  We found a local pizza shop and stopped in for a couple of slices.  They put lots of garlic on the margarita pizza, but the five cheese pizza was excellent.

After dinner we made our way  to the hotel.  We have some minor packing to do as tomorrow is embarkation day on the ship.  It should be fun.

Flat Lizzy went with us today.  She enjoyed the Blue Mosque, had lunch with us, and almost got eaten by a lion at the summer palace. Yikes!

Tomorrow will be another adventure.