Istanbul,Turkey

We had the lucky opportunity to visit Istanbul, and I am so glad we did.  The first time we were going to visit I was a bit hesitant due to the state of affairs in the Middle East, but this time I swallowed my fears and what a good thing I did-because I never felt more safe and more impressed with a city.  After watching the Anthony Bordane Parts Unknown about Istanbul it was set into stone, we had to go! Read about our trip, and make sure your passport isn't expired, because I guarantee you'll want to visit here too!

We are very lucky to get to travel as a bigger Hatch Batch than the three of us; grandma and grandpa Hatch are ALWAYS down for a fun adventure, so when we spoke about going to Istanbul together they were game.  Istanbul is the Constantinople of the ancient world.  It is part real, and part surreal; a blend of bygone and the modern.  I think it's safe to say it was one of our favorite cities to visit because there are none else like it.  We stayed at Hotel Neorion, which was the perfect hotel for us, and in a GREAT location! Not only did our stay include breakfast, but they had a complimentary afternoon snack time that we enjoyed as well.

The location of the hotel was really great because we were in the heart of the Old Town-and there is so much to explore!

There are so many palaces and mosques here! We really enjoyed spending the morning on a tour of the Topkapi Palace.  Bode loved to explore on the grounds.

The Topkapi Palace has served many purposes: with offices, military barracks, a council chamber and a reception hall it also became the sultan's residence when Suleyman the Magnificent turned it into a home.  Topkapi efficiently served as the sole administrative palace for Ottoman sultans for more than 400 years and was enlarged over centuries. Unlike European palaces, which were build all at once, Topkapi Palace was constructed gradually and organically over time-the result: a lot of different architectural styles.

The inside of the rooms were really cool!

I love the tile

This room was called the Divan.  It was where the council chamber of ministers got together to discuss state affairs.

It was interesting seeing the Haram.  This was where the wives, favorites, and concubines of the sultans lived.   It was a carefully administered social institution that ensured longevity of the Ottoman Empire, there was a definite hierarchy of the women and the boss at the top was the Sultan's mother!

This little boy loved crawling around in the Courtyard of the Black Eunuchs. If you are wondering who the Black Eunuchs were, they were slaves from North Africa, Egypt and Sudan who were trained to serve in the Harem-to protect the women and take care of Harem administration. 

He's apart of the architecture

We went inside the Sultan's private apartments.  We were impressed by the imperial hall, used as a reception for special occasions. 

No more photos please mom!

This is really a beautiful location-overlooking the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus, and the Golden Horn.  Perfect for some photo ops!

After touring the Palace we made it to the Blue Mosque before prayer. Bode enjoyed some time out in the sunshine before we went in. 

The Blue Mosque is one of the worlds most famous mosques, it has a rich blue color of the handmade ceramic tiles that dominate the interior. 

Bode wanted to go into the outer courtyard first to wash up at the taps used for ablution.  Both men and women have their own cleaning areas where they wash their bodies before worship and it is a ritual to this day that is followed by Islamic law.

Women are expected to cover up before entering the mosque, so that's just what we did. 

 Getting loves while waiting in line to go inside

 Bode made lots of friends in line, it's hard not to smile back at this little man

Can we go in already?!?!

Ta-da!

Bode doing what he does best...reading... This time the Quran

 When in the Blue Mosque, do what the Turkish do... Pray! This was so funny Bode got down and literally looked like he was praying Islamic style.  He had a crowd watching him, so cute!~

 Making friends wherever we go

Our next stop was the Hagia Sophia. It's been called the greatest house of worship in both the Christian and Muslim worlds.  It is also known as The Great Church of Constantinople (similar to the Vatican in Rome) and was built in the Byzantine empire in A.D. 537.

Bode sure liked being thrown up in front of it!

Wondering if grandma will throw him up too...

always getting loving kisses

When you enter onto the grounds the first thing you see is the fountain. The Ottomans added this in the mid-18th century.  When Hagia Sophia was a mosque it was used for ablution cleansing before prayer.

The immense baptismal pool in the baptistery is made out of a MASSIVE piece of marble, and amazingly it is still in one piece despite spending centuries buried amongst construction debris in the courtyard. It is more than 10 feet long and 4 feet deep!

Bode wanted into the fount

Hey cutie 

Before walking into the museum we passed through the Vestibule of Guards. The entry is named for the Imperial guards who waited here while the emperor was attending church services.  The emperors used this entryway because of its proximity to the royal palace.

Replete with shimmering mosaics and fine marble The Hagia Sophia was the single greatest architectural achievement of the Byzantine empire. Speeding through 900 years of history, when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople the Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque.  From the church standpoint you can see paintings of biblical figures and saints, and from the mosque standpoint you'll see ornately written names of leading Muslim figures.

All of the christian mosaics were whitewashed and plastered when it became a mosque, and they are starting to take down stucco to reveal the amazing work underneath.  These will blow you away!   This area was originally used for the church council meetings. The mosaic dates back to the 13th and 14th century, and its theme-the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist asking Jesus for the salvation of souls, which is common in Eastern Orthodox churches. The workmanship is fascinating, especially the expression and detail in the faces!  

Bode enjoying a ride up on grandpas shoulders, holding onto his hair for stability

I found a beautiful view out of a peep window, if only you could hear all the noises and calls to prayer going on.

There was no way to end a better first day than with some great Turkish food.  We had dinner at Saltanat Barbecue House.  It was walking distance from our hotel, and if you want good Turkish fare, this is the place! The quality was great, the food plenty, and the service helpful.

We enjoyed a feast family style and left with our tummies full!

One of the really fun things that we did after dinner was to send the boys for haircuts.  There was a little barber shop that was LITERALLY a hole in the wall that was around the corner from the restaurant.  This was the best $5.00 ever spent, and these men looked sharp after.  

Turkish barbers are the real deal, they even zap out your ear hair with a flame!

But definitely not too full for some baklava from Hafiz Mustafa.  We tried lots of different pistachio and chocolate flavors (they even have samples).

Needless to say, we slept good that night!

The next day we were ready to go.  We really wanted to experience some non-touristy things in Istanbul so we were all in on the Hamam experience.  We took turns as couples going to the bath house and we highly recommend the Suleymaniye Hamami.  It was the bath house of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557, and there is a private lodge you can go into where the Magnificent would get washed himself.

The Turkish bath houses, or hamamlar, evolved from ancient Roman tradition and were established across the Ottoman Empire as places for religious ritual cleansing as well as socialization.   

Usually the hamams are single sex, this is the only hamam couples can go to and enjoy together.  The process went a little like this: warmed up in the sauna, had our skin scrubbed off (literally), rinsed off, buried in foam bubbles, a quick shampoo and some tea.  These two look like they had a great time!

We walked through the Spice Market-loaded with merchants dealing in spices, herbs, medicinal plants and pharmaceuticals. It was very colorful with the ambience of a true Oriental market. There are stalls selling everything from natural sponges to dried fruits vegetables and nuts. 

I love the dried fruit!

One important thing about finding people you love to travel with is food flexibility.  When you see something good, you gotta try it-diets go out the window!  I love that we all have a passion for food. We found some good looking street fare, not sure what it is, but it was good and worth the try.

We went to the Grand Bizzare to look at all the little knickknacks and souvenirs that were being bartered; fake purses, Turkish towels, gypsy outfits, and glittering jewelry.  

We stopped on the bustling streets for a Kebab after shopping. Bode was giving all the cute looks and mastering the side eye. Bode was a huge hit with all the locals loving his blond hair and big smile!

 Ohh a soda!

They gave Bode some French fries and he was a fan! 

He's thinking "no grandpa, I cannot share my French fries"

We went to check out the underground cistern.  This huge underground reservoir was build on a site of an earlier basilica, and so it's often called the "Basilica Cistern". The reservoir was built to meet the needs of a fast-growing city and covers an area about the size of two football fields-big enough to hold 27 million gallons of fresh water.  We spotted the two Medusa heads squeezed under 2 of the 336 pillars.

 In the afternoon we crossed into the new town and walked Iskital Street where modern stores were. The highlight of going into the new town was the Baklava at Karakoy Gulluoglu.  They had more Baklava than you could ever imagine, and they were PACKED!

 Nothing like some good Baklava from the first Baklava shop in Istanbul!

 We found the lookout tower, and wanted to go up, but the line was way long so we just admired its beauty from a distance:)

Back across the Bosphorus for dinner

We enjoyed dinner at Buhara Ocakbasi.  The highlight we would all say was the amazing pita bread and hummus-we kept that coming throughout the meal!

On our last day we went to the mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent. We first started by seeing his tomb.

It almost outdoes the Blue Mosque in its size, architecture and design.  The mosque has four minarets.  Mosques financed by sultans often had more than one minaret, to show off the sultan's wealth. Here, the extra minarets symbolize the religious and social leaders who succeeded the Prophet Muhammad. 

The number of domes are amazing!

The old marble fountain in the middle of the courtyard was used for ablution.

The inside of the mosque was very tranquil, the inside beautiful, but these two are even better looking. 

 The beautiful Bosphorus 

 Bode had a great time making new friends...

...but it was soon time to get strapped in and back to the hotel to head to the airport. 

We had an AMAZING time seeing the history of ancient Constantinople mixed with the history and modernity of Istanbul. It was one our of favorite cities for sure, hard to beat the combination of delicious food, amazing sites and great people to travel with! I am so glad we went, and hope we can return again one day!  

Onto the next adventure~!