I found some more pictures

I thought I would post more pictures I found the other day! 
  Let me go back. 
 About 10 months ago, maybe 9 months ago, I can not remember the exact date, Long Rocks dad was using the  PC and for some reason he decided to open it. Sadly, it broke the hard drive when he did that and we (long rock and I) had all of our Istanbul pictures that we took in the PC Hard drive. (sooo bad... I am pro putting everything on disc... Wonder why?) And so, I have been trying to sort through our pictures over the last two years. Long Rock insists I use the ones on FB but I know there are others that I want to see... Oh Well, anyway... I found some of my first summer I spent here. 
 I am excited to find them because Shahira came to visit me and we stayed in Istanbul for a couple of days with just her and I. We had the time of our life. 
 I wanted to show you some of those pictures from that summer: The Summer of 2010
Here are some

Me with vandalized stone girl

The Blue Mosque

Little Shops near the Topkapı Palace and walking towards Gülhane Park.

The Cistern, one of thousands here in turkey. This is the famous one that is across the Street from the Aya Sofia, where the Medusa head is

The Ceiling of the Cistern

That's right... Medusa. This thing is huge too! And there is no explanation as to why she is down here and why she is on her side

This one is her upside down. I was in awe... Shahira really liked looking at this too

Shahira was a sport. We wanted a discreet pic of us, she was too embarrassed to get in front of Medusa... I really wanted one with the Medusa though

Me at Gulhane Park. The trees were huge but reminded me of the Eucalyptus trees in San Diego. These were Eucalyptus. The Park used to be an area for sports because the Sultan loved sports

Another view of Topkapı Palace. This is a Geographer for the Sultan way back in the 1400's

Byzantine wall. Note the writing on it. I was fascinated with it

Aya Sophia. This was awe- inspiring. Really. This was Jesus sitting on a throne, with St Peter and John the Baptist kneeling at his feet, with Mother Mary and John the Beloved or St Paul on either side up in the corners. WOW!

Aya Sophia again. This one is a dome that has Islamic writings in Gold. When the Roman Empire fell, and Constantinople became Istanbul, Aya Sophia was a Cathedral made into a Mosque. In 1923 when the Empire of the Ottoman fell, Kemal Ataturk made this Islamic removed from here, which has been taken years to restore.

Everything is Islamic and Christian. It gives such a different beauty to this building. It is really a place of reverence

You can clearly see all the Islamic Scripture yet all the amazing work of the Christians. Interesting, a lot of the work was covered under black paint.

Blue Mosque

The huge Islamic writings behind me says Allah It was magnificent to be in there

Baby Jesus and Virgin Mary. Just gorgeous

This is at the Topkapı Palace. Interesting. I had come earlier with Long Rock but this section was closed. the bottom right of the picture is a Byzantine wall, above I have close ups. This wall is really big, sometimes up to 12 meters in height and wraps around a lot of what is now Istanbul but Constantinople

OOH! What are THOSE? Blueberries? (asked Shahira! ) I laugh every time I see this picture

Shahira loved going in this "room" that we were entering, until I told her what Sünnet meant in Turkish. We Westerners have a different way of circucising our boys than the Turkish, the Balkan Countries, and other cultures, I guess

The ceiling of the Sünnet Room

Where they performed the Sünnet on all the Sultans and their sons

Outside the Topkapı Palace

Old Train Station

Soo happy to get a Cinnabon!!! I love that stuff

We were going from Asia to Eruope... On a boat. They are really cheap here. Only 1-2 lira

I love her Necklace.

We went to a part on the Asian side of Istanbul from a boat one of our days. We saw this statue, it is about a war from a long time ago

Dolmabahçe Palace, This is the Gate Entrance. Ottoman Baroque Style

Clock Tower in front of the Dolmabahçe Palace

This Mosque is near the Sea Side in Ortakoy. WE liked going here. There was little shops and we ate at these little restaurants here

Taxi ride back to the Air port :(

The Next day, Long Rock and I went on a excursion all over Istanbul

We found another cistern. Above there was only a padlock. This is what it looked like inside. I really wanted to go inside... It looked so amazing. Long Rock Said NOOOO!!!  :D

Sokullu Sehit Mehmet Paşa Camii, This was built in the late 1500s and Minar Sinan was the Architect . We were looking for the Greek  Orthodox Church and found this little Gem.

Here is another picture of it

In the walls

So, as much as I love Turkey and the Turks. They are HORRIBLE at directions. I mean ... HORRIBLE. They can not tell you how or where or anything... Really. We walked for hours and hours and hours looking for this sweet little place. When we got there I wanted to cry. It was closed. We were annoyed because everyone around us would tell us a different way to get to it. I am really good with directions. I can give them well. These people can not. I noticed that in my teaching class too. I don't know if it is a cultural thing, but dang! They could get us lost in a paper bag... And Long rock Is Turkish!

Another picture of this really interesting looking Church

We stumbled upon an Armenian Chapel. I was so interested. I went in with Long Rock. This one was interesting because there were no pictures, no paintings of Christ to be found. I wanted to ask them why... I would love to donate one to this Church, You know find one in USA and give it to them... But I am not sure if they do not want any or if they can not find one they want on their walls. Or If they were allowed to put any... I was hoping to ask but I did not

Le Creme d'le Creme. The night we were there it was a Friday night. I was sad and crying because Shahira was gone and I was not sure when I would see her again. Long Rock offered to take me on a walk in the town. We went walking near the Blue Mosque when we saw that something was going on... What a wonderful find! We watched the Mevlevi Rumi (only in The Western Hemisphere they are called Whirling Dervish)

I loved it so much

I was in total awe watching these men twirl, meditating

I thought this was really cool looking. Long Rock and I went to another part of Istanbul, I forgot what it was called, on a Ferry. We asked the hotel if we could keep our bags there, they were nice and did not charge us and we were able to roam the city for a few hours before heading back to Corlu.

View of Istanbul from where we were.

There is what a ferry looks like. They are relatively inexpensive

New Mosque

Blue Mosque and New Mosque

The Grand Bazaar

Me looking at things at the Grand Bazaar

Copper... I really wanted to buy some of this

The First Bank in Istanbul

Another view of the first bank in Istanbul

The Mosque near the Istanbul University.