Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi
Church of the Beatitudes, Israel
Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque), Istanbul, Turkey
Church of the Seven Apostles, Capernaum, Israel
Church of the Beatitudes, Israel
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, Israel
Abuhav Synagogue, Safed, Israel, photo by Itamar Grinberg, courtesy of the Israel Ministry of Tourism
Muscat, Oman
Santorini, Greece
Suleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey
Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat, Oman
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
The Hagia Sophia is a 6th-century Christian basilica, converted to a mosque by the Ottomans, now a museum. If the word awesome still had meaning, I would use it to describe the Hagia Sophia, temple of Holy Wisdom. It set the standard for Byzantine architecture, though it was 1,000 years before another cathedral surpassed its size. From the outside, it’s a red-orange mountain that seems to anchor the city to the Bosphorus shore. It’s not particularly beautiful but the air of greatness can’t be missed. On the inside, it’s vast, immense, vast and vast and filled with the light of heaven. The massive dome practically floats above the wide-open enormity below. Interior surfaces are decorated with frescos, mosaics, calligraphy and marble.
Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque), Istanbul
The Sultanahmet Mosque is just down the way from Hagia Sophia. Together they are like bookends to the Hippodrome (Roman entertainment center), sort of. The Sultanahmet Mosque is commonly called the Blue Mosque after the 20,000 hand-painted tiles on the interior walls. It pairs well with the Hagia Sophia, not only in proximity but also as a complementary experience. While Hagia Sophia draws the attention upward, the Blue Mosque induces inward reflection. Hagia Sophia makes me go Wow! Blue Mosque makes me go ahhh. One more… Hagia Sophia makes me feel small. Blue Mosque makes me feel peaceful. There’s a lot happening on the walls, with all the painted tiles, but the atmosphere is light and serene. Continue reading
All the clues in this post refer to one Ya’lla Tours destination: Bahrain, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Turkey, or United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi and Dubai).
We’ll show you images of popular tourist sites in our mystery country, along with descriptions of those sites. Continue reading
HAGIA SOPHIA, ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) rises like a rust-colored mountain near the end of Istanbul’s Historic Peninsula, overlooking the confluence of the Sea of Marmara, the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus Strait. The city originated on this peninsula and Hagia Sophia has been there almost since the beginning. OK, that’s not quite true, but it has been there for a very long time. The city originated, as Byzantium, in the 7th century BCE. In the 4th century, the Roman emperor Constantine claimed Byzantium as his capital and renamed the city Constantinople. Constantine was the first Christian emperor of Rome. The building we know as Hagia Sophia was built in 537 CE by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, on the ruins of two previous cathedrals. Hagia Sophia stood as the largest cathedral for almost 1,000 years. The dome spans over 100 feet and is 180 feet high. Upon conquering the city in 1453, Sultan Mehmet II was so impressed with the building, he made it his imperial mosque. The design of many subsequent mosques built in the city was influenced by the Hagia Sophia.
It’s very impressive from the outside but, for me, the real WOW experience happens inside. It’s just so big and wide-open, you really feel like a speck of dust in there. Continue reading
Happy Friday! Please enjoy a few images of some of the world’s great buildings:
Burj Khalifa, Dubai
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the world’s tallest building. Click to read more about this building. Continue reading
Bursa, Turkey
Airplane travel is not fun, let’s face it. But I’m always careful to balance my grumbling with sincere gratitude. If it weren’t for a few cramped hours on airplanes, I probably would not know the weight of the air in a pharaonic tomb, or the light inside the Hagia Sophia, or the night-sky in the Sahara Desert, or a thousand other first-hand, unique sensory experiences found many thousands of miles from home. Honestly, I hardly remember all the hours I’ve spent on airplanes. It’s the places and people at the end of the ride that leave the lasting impressions. Still, it doesn’t hurt to pimp that ride as best you can. For me, that means swaddling my body in warm, soft things so it thinks I’m at home on the couch watching a Homeland marathon.
The foundation for a comfortable plane trip is comfortable clothing. Basically, you want jammies that you can wear in public, proudly. Your feet need to be warm and free to do what they do on planes. Socks don’t cut it. You need slippers. Then you need a blanket, not only for warmth but for privacy and to define your space. It’s a security blanket really, to make up for the vulnerability and lack of control we feel on airplanes. The protective powers of the blanket increase many fold when you know that blanket and where it has been. (Am I too attached to my blanket?) Finally, you need pillows to support the inevitable floppy-head and slouching back. (Is it really so hard to build a chair with lumbar support??)
My essentials, from Travelsmith:
Soft, stretchy, breathable, wrinkle-resistant, cling-free, machine-washable fabric, keeps its shape so you don’t have to.
$99 on sale from $149 through December 18, 2013
3-piece knit suit
A blanket disguised as clothing, 100% merino wool, 65″L x 27″W.
$69 on sale from $99 through December 18, 2013
merino wool wrap
Women’s Nufoot™ Mary Jane Slippers
soft, water-resistant, with protective sole for visits to the loo
$15
slippers
soft, breathable, lightweight and all yours
open 70″L x 55″W; folded: 7″L x 3 1/2″W
$35
travel blanket
Super Snoozer Memory Foam Pillow
I like the combination of memory foam, for just the right amount of neck support, with inflatable areas for less packing bulk.
16½” x 11″(inflated); 5 1/8″ x 5 7/8″ (closed & folded)
$19
neck pillow
17″W x 5″D x 9″H; folded: 8½”W x 4½”H. 8 oz
lumbar pillow
Check out Travelsmith.com for these and other gift ideas for all the travelers in your life.
Hagia Sophia Hotel Istanbul Old City
This hotel’s best feature is its location in the heart of Sultanahmet. It’s practically on top of the Hagia Sophia Museum, the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Mosque) and the Basilica Cistern and an easy walk away from Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. It’s a modern hotel, converted from an existing building and opened in August of 2011. The rooms are clean and spacious and some offer sweeping views of the Hagia Sophia Museum. We use this 5-star hotel in the Diamond and Platinum categories of our Istanbul tours.
Hagia Sophia Istanbul Old City
Hagia Sophia Istanbul Old City
One of my favorite places in Istanbul is the Byzantine Church of the Holy Savior in Chora, also known as the Kariye Camii or the Chora Museum. The surviving structure is mostly from the 11th century, but when the original church was built on this site in the 4th century, it was outside the city walls. Chora means country in ancient Greek. It’s a relatively small church and although pleasant enough, there’s nothing outstanding about the architecture. The real reason to visit is to see the 14th-century mosaics and frescos that cover the interior walls. Continue reading
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