A Four Hour Tour... A Four Hour Tour...

You know... like Gilligan's Island... or not...

This morning we were met at our hotel by a private tour guide. Over the years, we've learned (the hard way) that spending a little bit extra to have a private guide is well worth the expense. The alternative is being herded around with the other cattle and inevitably, you are always stuck with that special someone that looks like this, wearing her bedazzled Crocs, that just happened to have finished a correspondence course on Islamic studies and is hell-bent on playing 'stump the tour guide.'
Our first stop was the Blue Mosque (above). It was amazing to be able to walk through with commentary from someone who was so well versed in the history of the place. The mosque is famous for having 6 minorets. Traditionally, these spires were climbed the requisite 5 times (daily) by men to call people for prayer. Now, they've hooked up loudspeakers to the top of them and let me tell you... there is no chance in hell (Allah, forgive me) that you can't know it's time for prayer. The women have no obligation to go and the men, though encouraged to go 5 times per day are only required to go on Fridays. They have to wash their feet to 'transform' themselves before entering the mosque:
We were also required to take off our shoes before entering and those with bare shoulders were required to cover them with a scarf. Here is a picture of people ripping off plastic bags to carry their shoes through the mosque:
Here's a couple of pictures from the inside. I can't say they're fantastic by any means. We're still trying to figure out which camera to use and when. Even then, I'm not sure we're going to be any good until we take a class and learn how to use them properly:
The next place we headed to was Hagia Sophia which is a museum and former mosque (if you're like us, this is the point where you start tuning out as far as the 'history' part of it goes). Yes, everything is spectacular, and yes, you are on the other side of the world... but the names of the rulers and the Byzantine empires this and Ottoman empires that... you really don't know what the hell is going on but it looks pretty so you just take pictures. How about you read all the Wikipedia sites if you're interested, and I'll just show you the pictures.
(Of course, you can never escape the never ending scaffolding in Europe)
Once we were finished with the churchy bits, we headed underground to the Yerebatan Sarnici (Basilica Cistern). The name translates to the 'Sinking Palace' and for good reason. The Cistern was created with stolen Roman pillars and spans 9,800 square metres. Basically, it was a reserve to hold the city's drinking water.
It was really nice escaping the heat. Take a look at the temperature:
Apart from that, the morning/early afternoon consisted of seeing cool things like this:
...and trying to convince Ryan that we were not going to be able to find cheeseburgers, and that he'd have to branch out when it came to ordering lunch. We took a risk, on the recommendation of the concierge. For those of you that know Ryan, tell me if you think he was a happy boy...
Big, fat NO on that one. More tomorrow.