We chose to skip the turkey and head to Turkey for Thanksgiving! We flew to Istanbul on Thanksgiving Day and feasted on deli sandwiches at an airport in Switzerland: the kids were mirthless.
The kids were fearful that something bad would happen to us in Turkey, but we were the recipients of repeated kindnesses.
Bop making a finger across the throat gesture; Log acting as though he's crying, and Littlest giving us a, "Are we really flying into the Middle East?" face.
Happy Thanksgiving!
These are like cheese puffs but peanut butter flavored. We love them!
At the entrance to Hagia Sophia
Super plush carpeting inside the Blue Mosque
Each day we walked through this square, located adjacent to the Blue Mosque, to venture to other parts of the city. Two days after our departure, a bomb was detonated in this square killing 23 people.
The square was a former Roman hippodrome, and the track circling the square could still be easily seen. The obelisk pictured below is called the Obelisk of Theodosius and was brought to Istanbul during the fourth century. When Kaiser Wilhelm II visited the city in the early twentieth century, a gazebo was erected to honor him; it is seen the background of the photo below.
Kiddos in front of the Blue Mosque. We were able to enter the mosque, but Bopper was put out because she had to wear a head covering and a headscarf because leggings were unacceptable attire. Littlest, Bop and I came away with quite an appreciation for those that wear headscarves as they're incredibly difficult to keep in place! A room was set aside in the mosque for those who wished to ask questions about Islam. A day earlier, we went to a class, if you will, on the fabrication of Turkish carpets. We were astounded by the plush, thick carpeting within the mosque and wondered at its cost.
Hagia Sophia, the world's largest cathedral until 1520 when Seville's cathedral was completed.
Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453, but Christian symbolism could still be found within Hagia Sophia.
View of the Blue Mosque from one of Hagia Sophia's windows
Sludge left in the cup after finishing a Turkish coffee!
Topkapi Palace, a primary residence of sultans for centuries. The palace houses a museum which purports to own sacred relics including a pot owned by Abraham, Moses' staff, David's sword, and bits of Muhammed's teeth and beard.
Lunch by the Bosphorus
J and Log in the circumcision room at Topkapi Palace ;)
Cisterns beneath Istanbul...it made me think of Robert Langdon.
For reasons unknown, one of the cisterns pillars features an upside down head of Medusa.
At a spice stall in the Grand Bazzar. We ate loads of Turkish delight here, and it was nothing like the sickly lemon and rose flavored candies one finds in the UK. If true Turkish Delight was offered to Edmond, then I can understand why he turned tail and followed the White Witch!
J buying his younger brother a coffee grinder!
Cruise through the strait. We did visit the eastern side of Istanbul; this made Log happy because it meant he set foot in Asia.
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