Today was another eventful day. We were up and at 'em around 10am for breakfast. The hostel provides a tasty breakfast of bread, cheese, sour cherry jam, butter, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, a boiled egg and tea or coffee. It's not what I'm used to in either Canada or Russia. During the Olympics we ate tiny crepés and yogurt, in Canada it's a sausage and egg breakfast sandwich on a biscuit from Tim's. Anyway! We ate and were off to the Basilica Cistern. We were supposed to meet our new Anerican friends but missed them by about 10 minutes. The Basilica was stunning. It's basically just a huge cave with pillars and water. Oh and mood lighting. The coolest part for me was the Medusa heads that are in the back corner. One is upside down (so naturally we shared a Spiderman kiss) and the other is placed sideways. There are a couple myths surrounding why the heads are there but no one really knows for sure. I think the mystery adds to the allure.
After the Basilica we went to Hagia Sofia. Neither Polina nor I knew anything about it so we bought the audio guide. Man do they ever give you a lot of information. The building was far more impressive on the inside and the history of the building was far more impressive than I expected. If I understand correctly, it's been torn down, modified, burned, added to, remodelled, changed from Christian church, to school, to mosque, to museum, and more. I had two favourite spots. One on each floor of the building. On the main floor I enjoyed the Wishing Column. Legend states a few things about this column. First an angel was supposed to protect it and the tools used to build the structure at some point. Then a saint or prophet was buried inside of it. Then some other dude blessed it. And at some point someone also stuck their thumb in it, swivelled their wrist around and in doing rotated the whole building so that it faced the correct direction. Now it is believed if you stick your thumb in and swivel your wish will come true. I stuck and swivelled but forgot to wish... Oops. My second favourite spot was on the second floor. There was once a sarcophagus in one corner containing the remains of a leader of the 4th Crusade. One time when Istanbul was seized the conquers entered Hagia Sofia, saw this sarcophagus, got mad and threw his remains out the window. I found that terribly amusing.
Right. This is shaping up to be more extensive than I thought. Time to wrap it up...
After Hagia Sofia we went for a delicious lunch were we finally caught up with the boys. It was nice to just sit and chat. They work for the US Organizing Committee for the Olympics and such so we chatted about our experiences in Sochi. They too had a wonderful time. We decided that Sochi (and perhaps Russia) operated in a chaos til start kinda way. Everything seemed to be up in the air but when it came to go time everything went mostly smoothly.
We went with the boys to Blue Mosque which was stunning on both the inside and out. The super low chandeliers made me feel really tall. The enormity of the structure made me feel quite small. The amount of work that went into that building shows a tenacity of people that I am not sure exists anymore.
Our stroll out of the Blue Mosque took us to Topkapi Palace but alas it was closed. Here we parted with the guys and carried on to another early closing museum which we went able to view. But! We knew the Grand Bazaar was open and nearby. Our trusty feet got us there and through the labirynth of shops. I haggled for a scarf with a shop keeper who was the most friendly and happily rude man I've ever met. We left satisfied in my purchase but unsure if we should be insulted or amused by the conversation.
Returning to the hostel we acquired new friends who accompanied us out to a extremely delicious and cultural meal. Our food came out in a flaming clay jar that was broken very percisely. The chef even threw the flames down the street. The experience alone was worth what we paid and the tasty food seemed like a bonus. More friends arrived and dessert called to me. I had a chocolate banana crepé that I will dream of tonight. Then it was a tiny stroll, more lounging, and back home to bed.
Now I'm writing a no longer baby blog to you and wishing I was sleeping. Luckily I've run out of things to stay and sleep I shall.
Here's to you! Now let me get some sleep.
Love, love, love.
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