Istanbul, Turkey 06/29/06

Hagia Sofia. This amazing architectural wonder was built first as a church and then converted to a Mosque. Recently, it was turned into a museum. I was finally able to see it. So many times, Yani and I would pass it when crossing the waters into the European side. My curiostiy was finally laid at rest.

In order to get to Sofia, we of course had to cross the waters again. Once in the European side, we walked towards the west this time. It was a whole new world opening up before my eyes. We took the train to get close to Hagia Sofia. The train, by the way, was very modern. It was not that full.

It was one of the hottest days since I first got to Istanbul. Once we got off the train, ıt was hard to miss the huge buildings, both the Hagıa Sofia and the Blue Mosque. We went to Hagia sofia first. Inside the mosque, there is some reconstruction or remodeling going on. They seem to be trying to rescue the original paintings from when it was a church. It's pretty interesting. There are some catholic paintings, but there are big plates with verses from the Koran around the temple. The architecture of the building is grandiose and in fact, all the mosques that were built after it around Istanbul, ressembles the architecture of Hagia Sofia.

Opposıte the Hagia Sofia lies the Blue Mosque. What a magnificent piece of work with its beautiful domes and semidomes, nice courtyards and six slender minarets.
The Blue Mosque was founded by Sultan Ahmet I. He ordered Architect Mehmed Aga to begin constuction in 1609 and the whole complex was completed in 1616. Prior to that time, no sultan had a mosque with 6 minarets.

So Yani and I walked from Hagia Sofia across the street through some beautiful gardens right to the Blue Mosque. I was in awe! When I see buıldıngs like this, I always wonder how they built such monuments knowing that technology was not like today's. It's amazing! Anyway, we proceeded through the courtyards, taking pictures and observing the many worshippers that kept pouring in. We had to take our shoes off and place them in a bag. Needless to say, shoe odor was in the air!! So while we tried to breathe, we looked inside the marble building. There is a lot of blue inside. Also, there was an area where only worshippers were aloud to enter. So we looked from far off.

It was 5pm when we got done lookıng at the two sites. You know what 5pm means! Rush hour! Yes, here in Istanbul too. So we walked and sweated to the train station in the hot Turkish sun. When the train came, we rushed in. Oh my!! It was a bitter sweet moment. As I got into the blue train, I felt the air conditioner in my face! That was refreshing! That didn't last too long. People kept coming in. Soon, the train got full and many people were standing up with their armpits in my face!! So it was kind of a choice. Do I want to be out there in the heat and sweat like a pig, or do I want to be inside this air conditioned vehicle with armpit aroma?!

Well, 10 mınutes later we were asked to get down because there was too much traffic and the train was not getting anywhere! It was actually a nice walk to the Turkish Shouk. I did some shopping there and quickly left because there was so much to buy. We headed to Kari's house, who had invited us for an evening bar-b-que with his family and another Finnish family. I finally saw all his children and had a wonderful time fellowshipping and eating Finnish style cooking in Istanbul, Turkey.

Istanbul, Turkey 06/28/06

Last day of traning! Wednesday came and went so fast. It was pretty busy at Turk7, as I showed all the trainees a few more things that I deemed necessary before I left. Now they have the basics. It's up to them to take what they've been shown and to apply it to become great editors. The sky is the limit.

We gathered towards the end of the day and I was presented with some gifts and some words of appreciation for what had been shared in the last 7 days. It was a surprise for me, which sent chills down my spine.

At the end of the day, Yani looked very tired. We decided to go to a shopping area in Karikoy. Tomorrow is going to be the long day visiting some major sites like Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. Meanwhile, I did some shopping in Karikoy and then we called it an early day. At home, we just chilled and watched a soccer match.