This was Patrick's last full day before he headed back to Morocco so we tried to make the most of it. We ran back across the Golden Horn and along the coast on the other side until we found the remnants of the old city walls that Constantine and his empire had put up to protect the city. The city quickly expanded beyond its borders and the walls almost became obsolete, but they were awesome to see. There were turrets and slits for archers to shoot through. There were also pits in some of the turrets that were used for prisons. Once we got to the walls, we meandered around them for a while, climbing and bouldering and marveling in the history. After we had scurried up one of the archways in the wall, we came upon one of the most magnificent views of the trip. I wish I had brought my camera to capture the amazingness. It was a caged in basketball court with European lines. On two sides you could see the wall - the baskets were less than 10 feet away. On another side was the city, stretching for miles. We were situated on a hill and had a birdseye view of the metropolis that lay before us. On the last side was the neighbrhood - quaint little houses with funny colored roofs and yards with chickens in them. It was a beautiful sight, capturing everything quintessentially European about the place, new school, old school, and older school.
After we got back to the flat, we went straight back to Sultanhamet Square so we could tour the Hagia Sophia. It was originally a Christian church and was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly 1000 years, from its completion in 537 until 1520. That is simply amazing! Anyway, it was a Christian church until the Ottomans took over in 1453, which was a watershed time in Turkey's history. The Ottoman's brought a new Islamic culture and immediately transformed the Sophia into a mosque, which it remained until the 1930's. Then the government of Turkey decided to desecularize it and turn it into a museum, which it remains today.
History lesson aside, it was transcendent. It is enormous, inside and out. I'm left in awe at the medieval (and before) construction methods that were being used. The mosaics and marble and everything else...marvelous.
Then it was time for part two. After a little nap, we met Asli for dinner at another local Turkish place in Taksim and ordered a bunch of plates to share. We then proceeded to our big night out on the town. There are so many words that can be said about that night, but this is what I believe sums up the night: We were walking back to flat as the first call to prayer was going off from the minarets of the mosques, that is to say, sunrise.
Alex and Pat took some videos. They're a more accurate description of the evening.
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