Yesterday the lot of us decided that it was the perfect day for a beach day. We jumped on the tram and headed to the ferry docks. There we were able to catch a ferry to the Princes' Islands. The islands were used as a place of exile for royalty during both the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, thus giving them their names. We jumped off the boat at Büyükada, the largest of the islands and home of St. George's Church, which rests on the highest point of the island.
After haggling for bike rentals, we pedaled our way up the mountainside up to the church. We ended up chaining our [temperamental, I-refuse-to-stay-in-the-same-gear-for-longer-than-five-minute] bikes near a rest station and walking up to the church. My ukulele provided some scant tunes while we hiked, but my limited knowledge of chords/lack of breath made for a sad performance.
We finally made it up to the top and were able to rest our sweat-soaked selves in the shaded cafe. After visiting the church and eating at the cafe, we walked back down and biked to find a public beach.
The beach that we ended up at charged us 6 lira, but we still had a great time jumping off the dock and sunning ourselves. The Marmara Sea is the perfect cool-down after a long bike ride. The day trip wrapped up with us biking around the rest of island. Luckily we were going downhill most of the time. Zooming through the residential area was exhilarating, no brakes, no pedaling, just coasting while dodging pedestrians and the other tourists in horse carriages.
After returning to the mainland, we finally had our Taksim night, complete with clubbing and a karaoke bar.
Today's adventures included visits to the Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern.
The Hagia Sophia. Church turned mosque turned museum.
One of my favorite mosaics that we saw. In the middle sits Virgin Mary the Protector with Jesus on her lap. On the left is Justinian, offering up the Hagia Sophia and Constantine is on the right offering up the Grand Palace.
The underground cisterns served as water storage for the Grand Palace. They were hauntingly beautiful and the low waters were filled with plump fish.
A Medusa head at the base of one of the columns.
Right now we are all on the rooftop, writing in journals, doing work and giving each other henna tattoos with the kit that my friend Tida gave me before I left. Pictures later! Class tomorrow. 10 am. Rooftop breakfast+class. Best thing ever.
Hi Timmy. You are having a great adventure and your openness to meeting and conversing with the people you are meeting in Istanbul is really enriching your experience. I too loved the Blue Mosque. The soaring ceiling and the beautiful tiles & colors made the place seem transcendent & serene even though there always were lots of people inside. Remarkable. thanks for sharing your trip. GMaM
ReplyDeleteTimmy, the bike ride without brakes sounds like plenty of adventure. Glad you schedule permits such excursions. The camera is in great hands. A marvelous photo of the cisterns. Hand-held or with support? If you captured it with RAW format, save such a copy. More detail can be brought out. I can do that if you wish.
ReplyDeleteWhat a rich history you are immersed in and you have not even begun the archeological segment of the trip! Yea Yellow Crocs. Gpa Dick
Hey Gpa and Gma!
ReplyDeleteOur schedule is actually amazing and gives us a lot of free time to explore. We only have 2 more full days in Istanbul and then we head into a rural village on Wednesday morning! The Cistern shot was done with my Ultrapod! I've been using it a lot for Mosque shots because my hands aren't too steady. I haven't taken any RAW format shots yet! I keep forgetting to change it. Shooting in RAW kills my battery, but I need to start using that function. Thanks for reading!
Much love,
Timmy
Hi Timmy, Great trip you had ... thanks for all the pictures- it's all beautiful... the beach quite rocky hah ... remind us the beach in kitsap park :) We missed you but glad you were there and explore for us :) Love MD
ReplyDelete