Istanbul was Constantinople.....I just got that.

We had a 10 day break from school and myself and 2 friends went to Istanbul. Not to sound cliche, but it was amazing! I will post a few pictures here. I'm adding all of the pictures to my Shutterfly account where you can checkout the rest (roughly 400) at your leisure. I'll make a new post with the link when I get them all on there. 

I'm so thankful that I get to travel like this. It's so crazy that I went on a trip to Turkey in the middle of the school year. It was a nice escape from the heat. Oh, and they have trees there. I missed those guys. 

The city of Istanbul is separated by the Bosphorous. Half of it is on the European continent and the other is on the Asian continent. That's pretty impressive when you think about it. We crossed the only bridge in the world that connects two continents separated by water. Not too many people can say they did that! There are stunning mosques everywhere. The oldest one, the Aya Sophia, was first built in the year 300 as a church and was later converted to a mosque. We went to some palaces...one of which had a 4.5 ton crystal chandelier! We also got to tour the Harem sections of one palaces.

Let's get a little education on Harems (ha). Harems are groups of women including, but not limited to wives, mistresses, daughters, concubines, etc., Most Harems today contain only wives and children.  There is one right by our school. There are 4 houses in a row, each containing a wife and her children. All houses are equal, in accordance with the Koran. Anywayssssss, In Islam, the word Haram means forbidden. Some of the Haram things are pork and alcohol. The word Harem comes from the word Haram, meaning that a man's Harem (or group of women, whatever you want to call it) is forbidden or Haram for another man to touch. Confusing, I know.

Soooooo, whole entire areas of palaces in Istanbul were housed by the women in the Harem. These areas were guarded and serviced by Eunuchs....castrated men. Wow, look how much we've learned! 

Ok, here's a few pictures.

Blue Mosque (The tiles inside the Mosque are blue. Those blue tiles are all over the city, in palaces, in mosques, etc.

Basilica Cistern: The largest of 100s in Turkey, built to capture and store water for the city.

Medusa Head in the Cistern

You're looking at the coffins containing the Sultans! Incredible! You can see the signature Ottoman blue tiles in the background.

Inside the Aya Sophya. Pictures do not do this place justice. This place is unbelievable. The plaque is one of 4 containing the 4 pillars of Islam. They were added much, much later.

Aya Sophya (Eastern Orthodox Cathedral from 360 to 1463,  Converted into a Mosque in 1463 and remained a mosque until it was turned into a museum in 1931.)

Aya Sophya at night. The towers or 'minarets' were added when it became a mosque. Most mosques have 4 of these to represent the 4 pillars of Islam. The Blue Mosque has 6, due to the architect's mistake. After the blue mosque was built, minarets were added to various mosques so it would not be the only one with 6 of them. I think that's the story anyway, haha.

Inside the Blue Mosque. You have to remove your shoes!