Cairo, Egypt and Istanbul, Turkey
Today we were picked up at 5:30 in the morning to head to the airport . Yes, that meant that I was up at 4:15 to make sure I could take a shower before we left. If you can call it a shower. Our shower in our apartment alternates between burning hot water and freezing cold. You soap up during the extremes and do a quick rinse when it's tolerable. And the tub is very narrow, so there's not much room to maneuver with the shower curtain right there. Oh, well, hopefully the next one should be better. Right outside our apartment they stable the camels, donkeys, and horses they use with the tourists--ewww, what a smell (mixed with the smell of garbage). We have 4 air conditioning units in our apartment and two of them work intermittently, and one does not work well. Two more gripes, nothing in Cairo is clean, there is rubbed in dirt everywhere, including our apartment. The other is the rooster next door that doesn't understand that the sun is not rising at 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning. He crows at all hours of the day and night. Yikes!
We were a little worried about the timing of the pick-up, because it could take up to an hour and a half to make it through Cairo to the airport (that's how long it took when we arrived) and our flight is international, leaving at 8:50. We had our old driver back (what a nice man!). He was able to make the trip in 45 minutes! As we drove through Cairo, we noticed again the rubble from street projects and the ever-present garbage--it makes it look like a war zone. Driving through the first time we thought that the whole city looked like a slum, but then Ash and our guide explained that the outsides of most houses do not look nice, but they are very nice inside. If your home looks nice on the outside, you have to pay higher taxes, so people leave it looking awful. There is still a lot of poverty, but it was nice to know that it wasn't as pervasive as we had thought.
We arrived at the airport and had to go through security before we could even get to the counter to check our bags and get our boarding passes. Then we went through immigration to leave the country. At this point, we had some extra time, so we found a food court with a cafe selling muffins and juice before going to our gate. Then, we found that each gate has a security setup. So we had to go through again. Luckily, they had a bathroom in the gate, but not a water fountain to fill my water bottle. I asked the security people about going out to fill my water bottle and was told tersely, "no water."
Well, a short nap on the plane, then a movie and a meal, then we landed in Istanbul. We sailed through security and immigration and customs (they didn't even ask to see our visas), then bought a transit card and found the bus that would take us to the nearest point to our hotel. This is Istanbul's new airport and it is big and waaaayyyyy out of the city. Randy has been to Istanbul on a solo trip and said that at the old airport, you could take a tram to where you needed to be. The bus dropped off in front of the Hagia Sophia and our hotel is a block over and a block up. So we checked in, then walked to the large courtyard in front of the Hagia Sophia. We looked around, then found a cafe for cold drinks and a snack. We had frappés with french fries. We didn't know that the frappés would taste like coffee (the description said dark chocolate and caramel), so we didn't like them very much since none of us likes coffee. But then we walked around some more as the prayers started from the minarets. We went to a large courtyard outside of the Blue Mosque (the Sultan Ahmed Mosque). It has two large obelisks with hieroglyphics on them. They were taken from Egypt by the Romans to decorate their hippodrome which was in that exact spot. We hung out waiting for the prayers to end so that we could visit the mosque. While we were waiting, I went to use the public toilets. As I was leaving, I (klutz that I am) took a mistep on the curb and twisted my ankle. Two other tourists helped me sit down on the curb and I texted Randy. He went off to find Joshua and I hobbled to meet them.
We tried to visit the mosque, but I didn't have my scarf and both Randy and Joshua were wearing shorts, so that will have to wait until tomorrow. We noticed that the Hagia Sophia museum was still open, so we went there. While we were waiting in line for tickets, they closed the outer gate, so we barely made it. I hobbled and Randy helped me up stairs so that we were able to see the whole museum before the guards shooed us out. The museum was originally built in 360 as a cathedral. During a riot in 404, it was set on fire. It was reconstructed in 415 and survived until the Nike riot in 532, as the greatest church in the city, when it was again set on fire. It was completely razed to the ground and the new Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") was built in five years, and was finished in 537 at the largest cathedral in the world. When the Ottomans came in with the Conquest of Istanbul in 1453, the Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque (Ayasofya). In the 16th century, additional structural support walls were added to the exterior and minarets were added. More repairs were made between 1847 and 1849. In 1935, the Christians and Muslims decided to transform it into a museum. It is beautiful with extensive mosaics and stone carving.
After this, we took more photos, then found a cafe for dinner. We then walked around the park area again (trying to exercise my ankle), then returned to the hotel when I said that I was in too much pain to continue walking.
We got a blue ice from the front desk, as well as water because we didn't have any and were all very thirsty. Turkey is another bottled water country. I elevated and iced my ankle (which was swelling by now) and took a naproxen (an anti-inflammatory). We want to do a lot of walking tomorrow, hope I'm up for it!
Today we were picked up at 5:30 in the morning to head to the airport . Yes, that meant that I was up at 4:15 to make sure I could take a shower before we left. If you can call it a shower. Our shower in our apartment alternates between burning hot water and freezing cold. You soap up during the extremes and do a quick rinse when it's tolerable. And the tub is very narrow, so there's not much room to maneuver with the shower curtain right there. Oh, well, hopefully the next one should be better. Right outside our apartment they stable the camels, donkeys, and horses they use with the tourists--ewww, what a smell (mixed with the smell of garbage). We have 4 air conditioning units in our apartment and two of them work intermittently, and one does not work well. Two more gripes, nothing in Cairo is clean, there is rubbed in dirt everywhere, including our apartment. The other is the rooster next door that doesn't understand that the sun is not rising at 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning. He crows at all hours of the day and night. Yikes!
We were a little worried about the timing of the pick-up, because it could take up to an hour and a half to make it through Cairo to the airport (that's how long it took when we arrived) and our flight is international, leaving at 8:50. We had our old driver back (what a nice man!). He was able to make the trip in 45 minutes! As we drove through Cairo, we noticed again the rubble from street projects and the ever-present garbage--it makes it look like a war zone. Driving through the first time we thought that the whole city looked like a slum, but then Ash and our guide explained that the outsides of most houses do not look nice, but they are very nice inside. If your home looks nice on the outside, you have to pay higher taxes, so people leave it looking awful. There is still a lot of poverty, but it was nice to know that it wasn't as pervasive as we had thought.
We arrived at the airport and had to go through security before we could even get to the counter to check our bags and get our boarding passes. Then we went through immigration to leave the country. At this point, we had some extra time, so we found a food court with a cafe selling muffins and juice before going to our gate. Then, we found that each gate has a security setup. So we had to go through again. Luckily, they had a bathroom in the gate, but not a water fountain to fill my water bottle. I asked the security people about going out to fill my water bottle and was told tersely, "no water."
Well, a short nap on the plane, then a movie and a meal, then we landed in Istanbul. We sailed through security and immigration and customs (they didn't even ask to see our visas), then bought a transit card and found the bus that would take us to the nearest point to our hotel. This is Istanbul's new airport and it is big and waaaayyyyy out of the city. Randy has been to Istanbul on a solo trip and said that at the old airport, you could take a tram to where you needed to be. The bus dropped off in front of the Hagia Sophia and our hotel is a block over and a block up. So we checked in, then walked to the large courtyard in front of the Hagia Sophia. We looked around, then found a cafe for cold drinks and a snack. We had frappés with french fries. We didn't know that the frappés would taste like coffee (the description said dark chocolate and caramel), so we didn't like them very much since none of us likes coffee. But then we walked around some more as the prayers started from the minarets. We went to a large courtyard outside of the Blue Mosque (the Sultan Ahmed Mosque). It has two large obelisks with hieroglyphics on them. They were taken from Egypt by the Romans to decorate their hippodrome which was in that exact spot. We hung out waiting for the prayers to end so that we could visit the mosque. While we were waiting, I went to use the public toilets. As I was leaving, I (klutz that I am) took a mistep on the curb and twisted my ankle. Two other tourists helped me sit down on the curb and I texted Randy. He went off to find Joshua and I hobbled to meet them.
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| This is the street of our hotel |
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| The is down the street from our hotel |
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| Fountain in front of Hagia Sophia |
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| Blue Mosque |
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| Obelisks in Sultanhamet Square (outside of Blue Mosque) where Roman Hippodrome used to stand |
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| Gate leading to Blue Mosque |
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| Minarets (looks like a princess tower from a fairy tale!) |
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| Egyptian obelisk |
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| The plaza in front of Hagia Sophia |
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| A building on the plaza |
We tried to visit the mosque, but I didn't have my scarf and both Randy and Joshua were wearing shorts, so that will have to wait until tomorrow. We noticed that the Hagia Sophia museum was still open, so we went there. While we were waiting in line for tickets, they closed the outer gate, so we barely made it. I hobbled and Randy helped me up stairs so that we were able to see the whole museum before the guards shooed us out. The museum was originally built in 360 as a cathedral. During a riot in 404, it was set on fire. It was reconstructed in 415 and survived until the Nike riot in 532, as the greatest church in the city, when it was again set on fire. It was completely razed to the ground and the new Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") was built in five years, and was finished in 537 at the largest cathedral in the world. When the Ottomans came in with the Conquest of Istanbul in 1453, the Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque (Ayasofya). In the 16th century, additional structural support walls were added to the exterior and minarets were added. More repairs were made between 1847 and 1849. In 1935, the Christians and Muslims decided to transform it into a museum. It is beautiful with extensive mosaics and stone carving.
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| Ancient pieces |
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| From the balcony |
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| The marble door from the 6th century |
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| A picture of a mosaic that was covered up |
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| Here is what they have recovered so far. Christ in the middle, Mary Magdalene on the left and John the Baptist on the right |
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| From a window |
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| Another mosaic with the Virgin Mary in the middle, Emporer John II Komnenos on the left and his wife, Empress Eirene on the right. They are donating money to the Hagia Sophia |
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| Mosaics |
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| The lodge, where the Queen would watch services |
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| Carved support beams |
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| Marble jar carved from one pieceof marble |
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| First time I've ever seen arabic in a stained glass window |
After this, we took more photos, then found a cafe for dinner. We then walked around the park area again (trying to exercise my ankle), then returned to the hotel when I said that I was in too much pain to continue walking.
We got a blue ice from the front desk, as well as water because we didn't have any and were all very thirsty. Turkey is another bottled water country. I elevated and iced my ankle (which was swelling by now) and took a naproxen (an anti-inflammatory). We want to do a lot of walking tomorrow, hope I'm up for it!
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