Vacation week at Sultan Ahmet

I decided to give myself a sort of "vacation" before moving to Istinye, Istanbul. Istinye is a very nice place more central istanbul than where I lived before, its also just a short walk to the Bosphorus!

I have been staying in the Sultan Ahmet area of what is called "The Old City." This is where alot of historical sites dating back to B.C. are! Check out the view from my hotel:
Looking out onto the Sea of Marmara

Sultan Ahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque)

And I also have a view of the Haghia Sofia! It's unbelievable that some people actually LIVE right here in Sultan Ahmet and get this view everyday!

Visiting the Haghia Sofia again...this place is incredible. Considering this is one of my favorite sites so far, I feel like I didn't really share enough information about this "church turned mosque" last time I mentioned it. In Turkey, the people call it "Aya Sofia" but it actually comes from the greek term "Ἁγία Σοφία" meaning "Holy Wisdom." Ready to hear how old this beautiful structure is? It was built between 532 and 537 (by order of the Byzantine Emperor)! It was designed by a Mathmetician as well as a physicist , and is home to several holy relics. Originally it was a catholic Cathedral under Constantine (remember him from your history book?) but in 1453 The ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople and Emperor Sultan Mehmed the second ordered the church be converted to a mosque instead of destroyed. In order to convert the church, the altar, bells, and a few other things had to be removed, and the Islamic features seen in every mosque were incorporated. The mihrab, minbar, and minarets (look like towers) were added. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey. So...now you know!

me and my au pair friend in Taksim! Taksim is known for a lot of shopping and tons of cafe's scattered through out; mostly locals come here.

This week I have allowed myself to have some nice meals at a few nice cafe's/restaurants...these often include a beautiful rooftop location with amazing views! Often I choose to have a "budget meal," which I have become pro at! Because there are so many street vendors, I can easily approach someone selling corn, fruit, simit (like a bagel), or fresh juice and each is only 1 lira (that's only 75 cents folks!) Then if I feel like having meat, I can choose among 50 kitchens along the main square here; they each have someone out front hustling you to come buy their food and showing you what they offer. This ends up in a Turkish cheeseburger for 3-4 lira ($2)

So there you have it, a meal for under $5!

One of my favorite things to eat are also sold on the streets, but mostly in Taksim. The street vendor has a MASSIVE pot filled with mussels. THe mussels have all been filled with rice and other spices; you simply eat as many as you want right there (they squeeze fresh lemons on them too) and then pay after. They are delicious and cheap, you can have 5 or 6 mussels for 2.5 lira ($1.5)!

As for the language...I am told by my Turkish friends that I am improving, although it is a very hard language! It's not easy like Spanish, which just sort of makes sense to me. There are really strange suffix's in Turkish, for instance to say you are "at school," is "okulda" School being "okul" and being at it you use the suffix "da." However if you are saying "at home," it's "Evde," Home being "ev," and being at it you must use the suffix "de." So basically, the suffix changes based on the last vowel in the word...it's SO confusing! The same rules goes for "my" (owning something) it depends on the word so it could be "um," "im," "em," and other endings to the word...for instance "o benim" means "that's mine."

That's all for your Turkish lesson today! :D

Today is my last day of vacation, so I'm off to enjoy it!

'Til next time!