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Time to go!I woke up ridiculously early and caught the bus from my campus north to pick up the other students, and then on to JFK to take the flight out.We ended up (as usual) waiting for over 3 hours at the gate.Everyone says it's better to be early than late, but I always wonder what the limit is to that.Anyway, we finally got on the plane and flew to Frankfurt, where we had a long layover.We were all like zombies, so we stretched out across the chairs in a mostly vacant area of our terminal—not hard to find at 5am.I caught a little sleep, but not much, and I didn't sleep at all on the flight to Istanbul.Professor Campbell was all over the planning, letting us know that he had some ideas about where to go if we were up to it.I figured a shower would revive me enough to function for the rest of the day.
There was a long drive from the airport, which provided a great opportunity to see some of the city.We drove by the harbor, past some mosques, and past lots of landmarks.I was pretty impressed by all the people.I know Istanbul is a giant city, but I always forget how big and crowded places like this can be.The small, narrow streets were clogged with cars and shops, and it was so different from home.
We checked in at the hotel, which was right in between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia.At least it was easy to find.There was a lovely view of the city from the rooftop bar, so I tested out the panorama setting on my camera.Nice!I felt MUCH better after my shower and then met the group downstairs to go see some of the city up close.
We went to the Hippodrome first.It turns out that the Hippodrome is not a building anymore.It's like landmarks around the center of that part of the city.Not quite what I expected.It did give us an opportunity to walk around though.I was surprised by the mix of people, with some women wearing headscarves and others not—even one wearing a niqab (all black, face covered).Lots of obvious tourists too.The Hippodrome was built in Byzantium, during the third century, and it could seat almost 100,000 spectators around the 450 m (1,476 ft) long and 130 m (427 ft) wide race track.Campbell pointed out where the track should be, but it's tough to visualize.Anyway, we also saw some of the monuments that were brought in to class up the capital.They brought in cool obelisks and statues from all over the empire and some of them still stand in the Hippodrome today.You can see cracks and scrapings on a lot of them, from where they were moved and installed.It's mind-boggling to think that ages and ages ago, someone spent years (probably) figuring out how to dismantle, pack, transport, and reassemble all this stuff from one side of the empire to the other.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippodrome_of_Constantinople
The Blue Mosque was next (and right next door), so we got a crash course in history and the customs of the mosque.The female students had to put on headscarves to go inside and we all had to remove our shoes before entering.The headscarf thing felt weird.I know it's the custom, but I've spent my whole life being told to take off my hat, hood, etc. as a sign of respect.To deliberately cover my head before entering a holy place felt almost disrespectful.It was also hot.I don't know how women in Istanbul make it through the summer in such hot clothing, but I guess they must be used to it.
The group got separated on the way in, with Campbell making it in with a couple of students and the rest of us getting shooed around to the side entrance "for tourists!"We were a little freaked out, but we followed the crowd around to the other entrance and took off our shoes before entering.Some of the girls got stopped by another guard at the door, this one a female minder adjusting scarves and clothing to make sure everyone was properly covered.Knees, shoulders, cleavage, and hair all had to be covered.Some of the guys ended up with blankets wrapped around their waists and a few girls had to put an extra scarf around their shoulders.Finally inside, the mosque was almost overwhelming.Everything is incredibly ornate, and the lighting is provided by tiny lights arranged on a giant wrought iron chandelier.I think it was supposed to mimic way candles had lit the place for hundreds of years, but it meant that there were support wires and lights everywhere.It was also packed with tourists.I can't imagine praying there, but Campbell said it was closed to tourists during prayer time, so maybe the feel is different then.I know this is a holy place, but I just couldn't see it.It was more like a museum than a church, and way too loud and crowded to feel reverent.This wasn't at all what I expected.
Leaving the mosque, I stripped off my headscarf (finally!) and took a deep breath.It felt good to be back outside.It's weird that such a large building felt so small.We were all starving, so we headed down the hill to a restaurant called Doy-Doy (which means "full-full," like with food), where Campbell told us we would be able to see the lighting of the Mosque after the sun went down.We sat on the rooftop and had a wonderful dinner.The proprietor was really nice and stayed with us.He also had us join his Doy-Doy fan page on Facebook and friend him.I love the internet.I also got a great picture of the sun going down over the tops of the surrounding buildings.It was taking forever to get dark though, so we finally left and went back to the hotel.It was time for sleep!
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