We stayed in Istanbul, which used to be known as Constantinople until 1930. Turkey, as we came to find out later from one of our tour guides, has a long history of being invaded by just about everybody. Istanbul has been the capital of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Latin Empire, The Ottoman Empire. Now it only has to survive the invasion of the Whinebergs!
Snake has studied quite a bit about Turkey and it was a bit like having your own personal tour guide in Istanbul. He was most anxious to see the Hagia Sophia, a very renown mosque in
Istanbul. Strangely, this building didn't start out as a mosque, it started out as a church when it was built between 532 and 537 AD, 1500 years ago. It is funny that we think of this area as historically and staunchly Muslim but in reality a good part of its foundation is Christianity. And the Hagia Sophia was the third church built on the site. (How come 
records are so good from back then that they can tell you how many buildings were on a particular site but the Social Security Administration can't find records of my earnings in 1984, a mere 25 years ago? - sorry, I digress.) So when Istanbul was conquered by the Turks in 1432, the Sultan ordered it be turned into a mosque. For about 500 years it was the center of the Muslim faith but it has not been an active mosque since 1934. There have been several restorations over the years, the inside is just beautiful with mosaics and artwork. I have to apologize for the quality of photos inside, (yes, you ARE allowed 
to take photos inside). On our walk up to the Hagia Sophia, I dropped my very expensive camera with my much more expensive (at least for me) zoom lens on it. After the GREAT FALL, (which we referred to it in our house, or at least I do), the lens wouldn't come off the camera - it was kind of jammed on. Which is sort of a bummer because it means I had the prospect of taking only close up photos, or to put it in real perspective - I was only going to get photos of Chizz's nose hair in front of all the great historic places. I already have so many of those!! But never fear, I worked on it, cried over it, whine about it and finally I was able to work the zoom lens off. (See, never under estimate the power of whining!) But it was after the Hagia Sophia so these photos are all I really have.
Right smack dab across the street is the Blue Mosque. I love it when the points of
interest in a city are so darn close to each other, it is very convenient. Nice of the leaders in history to arrange it that way. The Blue Mosque is simply the most beautiful mosque 
I have ever been in. It is named for the blue tiles inside the mosque. As with all mosques there are some rules before you can enter. Women cannot enter with bare legs and bare shoulders. It is hit or miss sometimes as to whether men will have the same
restriction. We noticed very often Kiki and I were offered coverings if we were wearing shorts or tank tops but Chizz and Snake were not. They were allowed to go into most mosques wearing shorts. Since I heard that the Blue Mosque was particularly strict, I asked at our hotel what was the appropriate attire. Although I could tell our hotel's manager wanted to be accommodating to us (we found the Turkish people to be extremely friendly and warm) he struggled with telling us the right thing to do without seeming to somehow tell us something we didn't want to hear. Of course, we were making no value judgment, we wanted to see the inside of the mosque and were willing to abide by the rules. We wore jeans. (As an aside, we saw plenty of men in shorts but truthfully - they shouldn't have been. It annoys me when tourists do not respect the local customs and practices.) Muslims are called to pray 5 times per day. If you are near a local mosque you go int, if not it is perfectly acceptable for a Muslim to stop, point himself in the direction of Mecca and pray where he is. The floors of a mosque are usually covered in carpet and no one, worshipers or visitors, wears shoes inside. We were given small plastic bags in
which to carry our shoes. It is enormous inside and you are free to wander about but you must be mindful of the worshipers, who are there at all times of the day not just when
called. They have a good section of it roped off from visitors for people to pray.
Actually, not people - the men. See that area with red carpet? That is where the men pray. See this little dark area sectioned off here? This is for the women. Need proof? Here's the sign. Different culture.
Living in Europe for a few years gives you a new appreciation for football (soccer to
us Americans). Europeans live, breath and kill for soccer here. It consumes them many months of the year. It is hard not getting caught up in it all. While we were traveling, the Euro Cup 2008 was ongoing. Chizz and Snake managed to keep up on how the teams were doing and all the scores. It involve some coordination that ran from choosing a lunch place that had a television or peeking into seedy bars that might be showing the games. So when Turkey managed to hang in there until we got there, we were excited to catch a game locally. We thought we would be able to find it playing in just about every bar or restaurant and it might be fun to watch it with some locals but we really had no idea how huge this was. Although the cab driver gave us 
some advice, "If Turkey loses, it will be no big deal. People will be disappointed but the crowds will behave themselves. If Turkey wins, RUN don't walk back to your hotel. It could be extremely dangerous". Wow!! As luck would have it one of the main streets in 
Istanbul was right outside of our hotel. All of the stores and shops were flying Turkey colors and flags. The first order of business was to find Turkiye shirts for Chizz & Snake. Check. Done. Now, lets find a place to watch the game. There were
lots of restaurants and bars to choose from. Every bar, restaurant and shop had at least one if not 2 or 3 big screen tvs with the game. Mostly outside. The trick was finding one with an open table an hour before the game. We finally did and I think watching this soccer match was one of the highlights. To say these fans are fervent is an understatement. There was constant singing and chanting. The whole street was crowded with people 
cheering on the team. When Turkey scored a goal, pandemonium broke out. Fireworks went off in the streets, people tossed bottle rockets from the roof garden bars and restaurants. For the rest of the night, the street was filled with a red smokey haze. It was an amazing experience to watch the games with the locals, you got caught up in the enthusiasm. Unfortunately Turkey lost, and true to the word of the cab driver, the crowd dispersed rather quietly and there was no negative uproar. Most of the fans we spoke with were pleased that Turkey had made it so far, considering quite a few of their best players were out with injury. The believe there is much hope for Turkey in future competitions. You got a real "wait till next time" feel.We decided to take give our feet a little break one morning and take a cruise down
the Bosphorous River. Like Greece, you can pay a company to do a specific tour or you can ride one of the public ferries. We decided to ride the ferry and we had a great time. Youneed to get there a little early in order to snag seat by the rail or by the window inside. We decided to ride outside and just enjoyed the views passing us by. It is
a great way to seen the city from a different perspective. We stopped at a city along the way and had some lunch and fed the fish from our table. Unfortunately Snake got the one bad meal we had on our trip at this place, some shrimp that had obviously gone bad. We fed it to the fish. They didn't seem to mind.We took a day trip to Ephesus from Istanbul which involved getting up at "much
earlier than any teenager in his/her right mind wants to get up" a.m. to take a one hour flight. We had a private tour guide, which was very nice. It made it easier to concentrate on just what we wanted to see and kind of gloss over anything that we didn't want to focus on. Ephesus is a very important city both historically and religiously. They believe it was first founded in the 10th century BC -- so about 3000 years ago. It is actually a very good example of how all of the different invaders contributed to Turkey's history. Legend has it first founded by the Greeks, who built the great temple of Artemis nearby. The Temple is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (racking up two on the Whineberg tally). You always read that the pyramids at Giza are the only remaining ancient wonder. I guess 1 1/3 columns does not count as remaining. We had a visit to the ruins of the temple and it is easy to see how massive this temple must have been. There is a biblical story of how St. Paul (yes, THAT St. Paul) took the local merchants of Ephesus to task for selling statues of Artemis in the temple. Apparently he 
objected to the objectification and commerce being done on temple grounds. I wonder how he would feel about the picture I have taken here? Locals selling replicas of what the temple used to look like, little statues, t-shirts etc. right on top of old ruins, pieces of the columns that are lying about the grounds. Some things never change!!We later walked through the ruins of the ancient city and it is a pretty amazing site. So far most of the ruins we have seen in various places (other than Pompeii)
have been fairly small and you have to use your imagination quite a bit to visualize what it was like in its heyday. Although there are good portions missing, you can still get an idea of the sheer size of the city. Ephesus used to be a harbor city and you can see definitely tell where the water used to be by the vegetation left there. After the harbor disappeared, the town slowly died with most people moving on to bigger cities. There were so many buildings and artifacts to see that I took hundreds, yes, hundreds of photos. Each of which I will show you and comment on now. No, not really but I think it will be easier if I comment on each picture separately. Get a drink and relax, this may take awhile!
This is the Library of Celsus, built in approximately 135 AD. It is an impressive building, restored several times over the years. It is an example of Roman architecture of the time.
This local theatre could hold 25,000 spectators in its day. Originally it was used for plays and other performances but there is also evidence that it was used for
gladiator battles in the most deadly way. They recently unearthed a gladiator burial ground nearby. Our tour guide told us that the theatre is still used in modern times and shared with us a story about going to a Sting concert there several years ago. I can only imagine how cool that was. If you look very, very, very, closely at some of the spectators in this shot you may recognize a few. Good Luck!!
There are some remnants of some of the modern amenities that the Romans brought with them. These are exactly what they look like, public restrooms. Most likely for men only and probably only high ranking men got the privilege of "using" these facilities with 20 or so of his closest friends. And before you die of curiosity, yes I got a picture of Snake and Chizz on the thrones and no, Kiki wouldn't do it!
This is the Temple of Hadrian. Emperor Hadrian visited Ephesus from Athens in 128 AD and this temple was erected in his honor in 138 AD. He is known as on of the "Five Good Emperors" although he reportedly cheated on his wife with both women and men, and tried to poison her at some point. I guess it all hinges on what your definition of "good" is.
The Agora or marketplace, very often the hub of the town. Trade was done here by the merchants or the important citizens (men) of the day might gather to hear important news from the rulers.
This is interesting. You ever wonder how they built all those columns? For the most
part, the columns were not one piece of marble or stone, that would have been too heavy to move. So they built them in sections. Two pieces like this one would be place together. See those square holes in the middle? What is hard to see is a little trench kind of impression in the stones. The two stones would be placed together, lined up so that both pieces' square holes were aligned. Then they would take melted metal and pour it in through the trench. When the metal cooled it joined the two pieces of stone together. They would add additional sections as needed. Fascinating, huh?
On your way out of the ruin site, there are quite a few vendors selling tourist junk, scarves, statues, mementos. Hard to resist these watches right? C'mon they are genuine!!
After seeing the ancient city there were a couple of other sites we wanted to see.
First was the Basilica of St. John. St. John was one of the 12 apostles and was very tight with Jesus. He was often referred to as the "disciple Jesus loved" although it was John himself who said that in his gospels, so consider the source. While
Jesus was dying on the cross, he saw his mother Mary and John and said to her basically "Woman, here is your son" and to John "Son, behold thy mother". This was Jesus' way of saying "Hey, take care of my mom". So John did. He kind of retired to Ephesus to write his gospels and allegedly took Mary with him. I say allegedly because there is certainly evidence to support John was there when he died but not really much of Mary, although there is a house there. So we wanted to see both places. The basilica was built in
the 6th century AD over what is believed to be St. John's tomb by the emperor Justinian, apparently not one of the Five Good Emperors; he was just satisfactory. It was massive with 6 domed structures and if it were still standing today it would be the 7th largest cathedral in the world. Of course, over the years it has fallen victim to invading armies, misuse and decay. It was also used as a mosque in the 1300s. So after the basilica we head over to Mary's house. Now here is where I have a bit of a problem with Mary being in Ephesus. The road leading up to Mary's house is extremely mountainous. I tried to imagine her traveling here, in advanced years, after her son dies, after traipsing all over the place with John (because it is documented that John moved around quite a bit before settling in Ephesus) and making it up these mountains, either by foot or donkey as suggested by Snake. It was a difficult trip by car, I can't even begin to imagine how she did it with the method of transportation available in those days. We get up to the house and it looks fairly modern and we learn that it is. The structure that was originally on this spot dates back to the 6th century, several hundred years after Mary would have died. But the foundation apparently has been dated for the appropriate time. Other than the things I previously mentioned, there is another reason I am skeptical as to whether this is Mary's house or not. This wasn't found after years of studying transcripts or writings from the era or reading of the gospel and interpreting the various phrases. This house was found as the result of a dream. A nun in Germany in 
the 1800s was an invalid, confined to her bed and never traveled away from home. One day she wakes up with the stigmata (marks or sores on the body in the places where Jesus had crucifixion marks) and tells of some visions she has about Mary and St. John traveling together from Jerusalem to Ephesus together. She described a house, a bedroom and a curved or rounded wall and apparently a location where it would be found. Several years later, 2 priests decided to try and find the house described by the nun and apparently happened upon its ruins. Viola! I am just a bit skeptical of that whole story. The Catholic church takes no official position as to whether this is Mary's house, but they have declared it an appropriate pilgrimage spot. And, three popes have visited there and said Mass. You can walk through the house where there is a small alter and a few pictures. There are nuns hanging around, making sure you don't take pictures and treat the place appropriately. There is a natural
spring there and supposedly there are miracles attributed to drinking the water. Christians and Muslims alike make pilgrimages here. Muslims revere Mary as the mother of Jesus, whom they consider the second greatest prophet. After drinking the spring water, you can make a request for some intercession or favor by Mary by putting it in writing and placing it in the wall. The kids and I both drank the water and made the request. Even though I am not sure whether this is Mary's house, it doesn't hurt to ask, huh?As far as I was concerned a trip to Istanbul would not be complete without a trip to
the Grand Bazaar probably because as far as I am concerned, a trip isn't complete without some shopping!! I am not so sure Chizz would agree. It is an experience for sure. It is one of the world's largest covered market place, with over 6000 shops. On average, the Bazaar can have over 250,000 to 400,000 visitors A DAY!!!! Yikes, that is one huge mall. As you are walking through the mall, people try to sell you stuff - pretty aggressively. Kiki & Snake were a little freaked out by the persistance of some of the sellers. We told them it was all a game, don't be upset or offended, these guys are just doing their job. Say no thank you and move on. It is hard when you are a teenager. We had some fun, bought a few items to bring home and enjoyed the atmosphere. I apologize for the epic nature of this blog entry. There is so much I didn't even mention, our trip to the Spice Bazzar, the rug factory, Topkapi Palace (beautiful and the harem really, really interesting) Chizz and Snake trying their hand at making pottery. But I felt this blog would have to get a zip code of its own if I kept on going. This has to be the longest entry yet. I think it comes from blogging about a trip that was a while back now. I kind of relived it while I was writing it and it was like visiting Turkey again. I would go back again, and again. We only scratched the surface and there is so much more to see. Maybe one day. Now on to the next adventure. . . . . .
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