I don't know if you heard about the ISIS attack in Istanbul last week that killed 8. Eddie and I were right there in June. It is horribly sad, since the people of Istanbul were some of the nicest people I have ever met!
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The pictures above are of Ed and I in front of the new fountains that line the square between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia (the building behind us). The Hagia Sophia was a Orthodox (Eastern) Catholic Church built starting in the 6th century. It was the biggest building on the planet for a century and is still a marvel of engineering.
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After the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople (Istanbul's old name, after Roman Emperor Constantine that moved the Roman Empire here), it turned Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. In the 1930s it was turned into a museum. It is gorgeous. There are still first century murals of tiles of Jesus and Mary, as well as the beautiful calligraphy of when it was a Mosque.
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| The Blue Mosque across from the Hagia Sophia. |
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| An Egyptian Obelisk that the Romans brought to Constantinople in the 6th Century. You can see this int he background of the pictures of the attack. It is horrendously sad. |
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| Blue Mosque on the first night of Ramadan. |
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| From the spice market. Near the square. |
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| The ritual foot washing station outside the Blue Mosque |
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| Me.. Seriously, some of the best people you will ever meet. |