Wanna taste some Turkey?

In case you don't have a chance to visit that wonderful place, Istanbul to be exact, take a lil' glimpse into my stay there and some of the sights I didn't yet post about.

Disclaimer: If my dress code looks positively horrid, it is due to the fact that I have no clue as to how to dress in cold weather - and few options to choose from - plus I was on no make-up mode most of the time. There, whew! I said it! Yes, it was very cold and even humid on top of it - plus it snowed a bit while I was there.

To begin, that's me on a bus on the 'dolmush' (if that's how they say it - a bus that gets there faster than the normal buses :) )

Here I am in front of a monument to Atatürk - my sis and I took advantage to enjoy the tiny bit of sun since most days were pretty rainy and cold. The bus and monument happened as my sis and I did some 'daisy picking' before the show for the refugees. That's my mom and sis inside the Roman cisterns (I'm sure you remember that Istanbul is situated where the Roman capital, Constantinople, was built). From there, the water was diverted to the aqueducts. There are ancient pillars and even a couple statues of Medusa - including her mythological story. There was also a wishing pool. Here we are at the Hagia Sophia. This church was built by Constantine when he built the city. People such as Richard the Lionhearted came through here and are depicted in paintings. Later, when the Ottoman empire conquered it, they turned it into a mosque. When Atatürk took over Turkey he turned it into a museum. Below my sis and I are enjoying the balcony view of the mass -a view that previously was solely afforded to the Empress. Of course, Mom and I also HAD to walk through the huge green door that was reserved only for Emperor Constantine's entry into the church for mass. There I am...enjoying some of the food delights of the country. And you won't believe it ... I can't remember if it's called a Duran or a Donner. Here we are in front of the Hagia Sophia (the church we were in above) And then in front of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque. This mosque is still used daily for prayers - and we managed to get permission to sneak in when visitors weren't allowed anymore since it was prayer time - just enough time to take a barefoot look inside. A beauty! -Pardon the tired eyes. This is at the entrance to one of the exotic palaces where the Sultans lived with their family and harem. That's a palace guard. And you won't imagine how hard I tried to make him laugh, but to no avail. That beautiful piece of work on ivory (my size) was one of the gifts to the sultan. Care for a bath in the Sultan's tub? The most beautifully engraved and crafted marble bathrooms.

Here is the footage of one of the main halls. Two interesting tidbits are that though all the pillars look like they are made of marble or stone, most are actually made of wood disguised as stone! The reason being that the palace was very cold in the winter, and through those pillars the heat from the kitchens could rise into the hall. Another interesting point is that the very top of the ceiling that you can see at the end of the clip, though it looks domed, it's actually flat - a wonderfully skilled optical illusion made in those days. Every rich detail was so skilfully worked (hand carved, hand painted, etc.) that, doubled with the abundance of details, it was intoxicating!

You might have noticed the chandelier in the clip above, but if not, here it is again. This was one of Queen Victoria's gifts to the Sultan of her time. Sorry some of the pix are blurry. I couldn't use flash in the museums if I treasured my camera.

The sun finally came out! My mom sat on the palace steps facing the Bosporus to enjoy it - and I caught her! God is good to us! Due to our job (and the nicest Boss on Earth...or Heaven), we didn't have to pay a cent for sight-seeing that would have cost a small fortune! I love my job! Then we were off to some more good food. This time I have NO idea what it was called, but it was made of Turkish bread with a juicy and tender piece of beef on it. They put a piece of this tasty green pepper on top of the meat, and then poured melted butter with some spices over the pepper. That way there was no burn to the pepper taste, but the taste seeped into the food with the butter. Of course, tomatoes and yogurt came on the side, as usual. Delicious! Who doesn't like being fussed over? I definitely didn't mind it a bit! The hairdressers my sis provisioned took over two hours (including tea, discussing your hair, washing, brushing, cutting, drying, wetting, drying again, rollers, drying one more time, fussing some more, more tea, touching up, pix), and I enjoyed every minute of it. Voila! The end result! Pardon my 60s look. My sis and mom did look amazing though. So ends this post. Who knows, maybe Turkey needs YOU! ;)