We flew into Istanbul in the evening, stood in line at the visa checkpoint for nearly and hour, arrived at our hotel and went right to sleep! The next morning, first thing, was the Hagia Sofia (which means Holy Wisdom).

This is the third church built on this property and it was finished in the year 537.  It was built as a Christian church (the largest built by the Eastern Roman Empire in Istanbul).  In 1453 after the Ottomans conquered Istanbul, it was turned into an Islamic mosque,  Now it is a historic museum. It is a spectacular place! Very unique in that you can see Christian pictures of Jesus, Mary and others right alongside Islamic calligraphy.

Across a lovely park and pedestrian area is the Blue Mosque, built between 1609-1616. We were able to go inside and see this active mosque   It was Sylvia’s favorite thing we did on our trip because this was the first mosque she has ever been in (that wasn’t a museum, like the Hagia Sofia).

After lunch, we toured the Archaeology Museums. There were so many interesting artifacts – we learned so much!  And Lily almost lost a hand…..

A highlight for us was meeting up with friends from Decorah right there in Istanbul! On the right of Jon is Stuart, a Luther grad. On his left is Huseyin and next to me is his wife Elvan and their adorable little girl, Bejna.

We went out to eat with Huseyin, Elvan and Bejna and had some delicious fresh fish. Then they took us to the most amazing baklava place – Karakoy Gulluoglu.  It was the best pastry I’ve had – full of pistachios, flaky crusts and honey sauce. Yum – it will not be forgotten!

Next day, we toured Tokapi Palace where the Ottoman sultans lived for hundreds of years. We learned about their lifestyles, harems (the designated spaces for the women of the family), life during the Ottoman times and so much more. One of the most stunning things about the palace were the interior walls, ceilings and floors made of thousands of beautiful tiles.

We spent the afternoon on the Asian side of Istanbul in Maltepe with Elvan and Bejna. We went to their local bazaar, their home and a newly established park close to the sea.

We packed in a few more things on our last day in Istanbul. First was a museum featuring Roman remains of tile flooring. It was very impressive work, and the pictures told a lot about Roman culture at the time.

We went to another Roman site – the Basilica Cistern. This was amazing! It’s an underground water system that stored water brought from nearby mountain streams. The cistern kept the water clean and was connected to houses so that families could have running water in their homes.

In the late afternoon, we went on a boat tour up the Bosphorus River. It was a great day to be out on a boat and it was fun to see Istanbul (the third largest city proper in the world!) by boat.

We sat up top for the best views.

Our last evening in Istanbul. We ate dinner at a rooftop restaurant and had beautiful views of the water, Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque.  A great way to end our time in Istanbul.