after a full 24 hours of transcontinental air travel, fox decided to make himself comfortable by stripping down to the huggies and going straight for matt's speedo (which matt uses strictly for swimming laps, i assure you).
the fair city of istanbul.
the blue mosque (where we answered the call in the previous post).
the hagia sophia, completed in 537 AD, has been a basilica, a mosque, and now a museum. it was quite possibly my favorite part of the trip. here's a peek inside...
oh how delightful; they put up the scaffolding just for us.
i really love the 6th century AD floors.
worn marble floors intrigue me... how many thousands of people have walked through these doors?
muslims believe that in mosques it is sinful to display images of people, so when the hagia sofia was transformed into a mosque in the 15th century, all the original christian mosaics in the basilica were plastered over, and these gigantic shields, displaying names of islamic prophets, were hung.
some of the recovered mosaics... beautiful. the mosaic tiles were interspersed with jewels to give the mosaic images movement.
a bit of chipped away plaster to reveal the original mosaic ceiling.
the entire ceiling of this joint was once covered in mosaic tiles. that's cool.
the hagia sophia: extremely cool. a must see.
spice market. my nostrils tickle just thinking about it. turkish saffron, garam masala and a kebab spice were purchased.
fox, learning to nap in a backpack. he mastered this art by day two.
and turks sort of loved fox...
restauranteur turk and stray turk.
old turk.
young turk (we went through two bottles of hand sanitizer).
turk with camera.
turk sunset.
now, off to upload more pictures... it's my absolute most favorite thing to do. ever.
18 comments:
i live vicariously through you. love the pics! hagia sophia looked awesome. and who doesn't love fox?! my favorite one was that dude carelessly snapping a shot just feet in front of you.
That looks like such an amazing place. Lucky you!
Yay for pictures! Istanbul looks incredible. I want to go to the spice market...and I want to be in your kitchen when you use said purchased spices. Yum!
Can't wait to see Greece!
ah! finalmente! red turk, blue turk, old turk, new turk. in the mosque and on the street. how many turks did you meet?
but i don't blame them. he is rather delightful. though it made me cringe to see the young turk with his finger on fox-man. hands off face, man! gah. hate it when people touch my face. i love how adventurous you are. take me next time, por favor?
Was this a vacation or business.. either way it looks amazing.. oh how I want to travel right now! What a cool place to go!
man, what a bummer those gorgeous mosaics were plastered over! wow. but i guess it's all part of the history of the building now. super neat to see your pics, thanks for sharing. more please!
Wow, beautiful! Your pics are great!!
I can't tell you how relieved I am that you have returned to the blogging world...I've missed your posts! Looks like you had an amazing time....jealous!
erin, you've married yourself a fine actor. look at all those turks eyeing fox in the backpack and matt pretends to be looking at the tourbook... just so they don't feel awkward. good boy.
and great pics. i can't wait to see and hear more about the trip.
the spice market sounds like a dream. looks like you had and outstanding time!
love it! i am right there with you on the floors. i love the mystique about the antique! :P beautiful, beautiful pics, e! :) so glad you are out exploring the world! so fun! :)
I was channeling Ms. Keim just reading this post. So jealous. Mr. Fox has been more places in these first years of life than I will probably ever go.
Hagia Sophia is totally on my list of places that I want to see. Loved all the pics- amazing sunset too! keep on traveling for all of us stuck here in Utah ;)
I was thinking how funny it was Matt was looking at maps the whole time, Thanks Savannah for enlightening me! Can't wait to see more!
i love this. re-iterating to me again that moms with young bebes can still travel : ) love it. though yes, hand sanitizer is a must. we just flew back into boston today from florida, and this little foreign lady on the plane brought B's hand to her mouth and kept rubbing it all over her mouth and nose; she was smelling her baby-ness, kissing her, and lingering way too long. seriously, for like five full minutes she was doing this. fortunately, unfortunately, B was laughing and loving it. hmm. gross. would you EVER do that to someone's stranger baby?
back to your post. i'm so glad you went!!! how long were you there? and what brought it about? and what do you recommend? and how did fox fare overall? i've been to turkey--but back then I was baby-less...
keep uploading them pix : )
This is down right incredible. I'm obsessed with your travels. One day I will travel to half as many places you've been. Tis true cause you inspired me to finally put in for my passport. At age 27. Impressive I know. I do love you pictures...all of them. Keep em coming please. What a beautiful place.
Yep...You're the coolest person I know.
Hey, found you in blogland!
great photos, I went there many years back but forgot the details, nice to see this gorgeous space again.
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