Turkey
Sure I'm a procrastinator, but at least Im finally getting these pictures out. Last month I traveled to Turkey for work. I spent most of my days in a stuffy little conference room at the Turkish AFB. In the evening our group of Americans went out to eat, and then to a bar or the hotel. I went to the bar a couple of times to watch them use the water pipe like the caterpillar in Alice and Wonderland.
I could go on forever about the food, and the hotel, but that is not fun (their staple food is Sis Kabaps 'Shish Kabab'). On the other hand we did have to travel through Istanbul on the way home and I caught pictures while we traveled around the country side. I bought a very cheap because it might get stolen, lost, or broken on my trip. It was so cheap and the shutter is so slow that it warped the pictures that I took while I was moving.
Here is what a normal Turkish town looks like. From the top of the hotel of course.
This is one of the thousands of mosques that we drove by on our bus up to Istanbul. I dont know how they get it to stand like that.
This is the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, It was built in 1500AD to show that the Muslims can build a building that can put the Hagia Sophia to shame, but it is not nearly as big.
This is the inside of the Blue Mosque. The men up front are prayaing, and the women were praying in the back behind me. I thought it would be rude to use a flash, so it looks really dark.
This is the Hagia Sophia across from the Blue Mosque. It was built by Christians around 500AD then it burnt down completely, and they rebuilt a totally new structure on it. Then the Muslims converted it to a Mosque. Inside there are layers of christian and muslim artifacts.
Here is one of the Christian mosaics with Mary and the Christ child.
Outside there is a place to wash up. A sign said that is was installed by a pope as a symbol of piety. Then I found out that basins like this are part of the Muslim culture to wash up before prayer.
posted by Brad @ 12:49 PM
5 Comments:
Very cool, Brad. I love the flair and feel of totally foreign countries (as opposed to those semi-foreign countries like Canada or Wisconsin). And Hookahs and Mosques and Ancient Christian buildings…very cool. And as for me, Istanbul will always be Constantinople.
Seeing those ancient buildings reminds me of something someone may have said or written that I may or may not have heard and/or read. The difference between Europe and America is that Europeans think that 100 miles is a long way, and Americans think that 100 years is a long time.
Oh, and you do realize that you are now on the government’s terror watch because you went to a Muslim country (even if it was with the air force)? So, no more beards, Brad.
Wow Brad! That must have been some business trip. I hope Rabecca and Elliot were okay while you were gone. Those were great pictures.
Those are pretty cool pictures. It still blows me away that I lived less than 200 miles away from Istanbul (Burgas, Bulg.) for 6 months (Burgas and Istanbul are about as close as Poky and Salt Lake). We nearly did a p-day trip but were afraid of getting caught...by the mission pres. and sent home or by the Turks and sent to a Turkish prison. Very cool Brad. I hope to go there someday...but I don't think Jyll would like the kababs.
Looks like a cool trip. I've always wanted to see the Hagia Sophia. Well, since college anyway.
My trip to the mid-east consisted of digging fighting positions in the middle of nowhere and looking at wrecked, burned-up vehicles all over the place.
Your trip looks more fun.
What sort of things did they put on the kabobs?
These pictures remind me so much of my trip to Israel. Jerusalem, too, has a lot of Islamic influence. While viewing these, I could almost hear the call to prayer that came over loudspeakers.
Traveling to foreign lands is truly a wonderful, eye opening experience. I strongly recommend it.
Ummmm...time for another trip.
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