The Journey Begins: Istanbul

Val and Ayaz at Blue MosqueAfter packing up my apartment and moving into a storage unit, battling a virus that I can only imagine felt quite similar to the plague, and flying 8 hours next to perpetually screaming toddlers … I’ve arrived.

First stop of the long-awaited trip is Istanbul, and thus far, the city proves to be fascinating — though we’ve only explored a smidgen of it.

The full photo ops from day 1 can be found in my Istanbul Flickr photo set.

I consider the day a success, not least of all because I got to wear goofy headphones while gettin’ my audio tour on in Hagia Sophia (see me happily geeking out at right), but the true highlight came at the Blue Mosque (pictured above) where by chance we stayed behind after the mosque was cleared of tourists, and were able to witness the call to prayer and prayers session that followed, all of which is as hauntingly beautiful and moving as might be imagined by anyone who’s been privy to the wail of the muezzin’s call.

10 Comments

  1. Ah, Istanbul. You have to be the 3rd person I know that has traveled there this year! Amazing. So, of course, it’s going on THE LIST. 🙂
    Glad you arrived safely. Going to check out the photos now. Looking forward to more …

    XO,
    RaniRo

  2. Lady! You look fab and fully recovered–I hope you are feeling better and that the week of sickness is but a fleeting memory. ENJOY! Miss you muchly(shocking, I know). xoxo!

  3. bill conners says:

    So happy to hear from you. looks like your having fun. glad you feel better. your pictures are fantastic, can,t wait to see more. love you.

  4. Regina & Jimmy says:

    You look adorable in your headset. Your pictures are beautiful! Look forward to seeing more. We’re glad you arrived safe & sound.
    (PS muezzin is my word of the day!)

  5. Valerie Conners says:

    YES! I will try to continue to offer you a word of the day (or at least week!) hahah!

  6. Robert J. Aquaro says:

    Glad you got off to a good start. We were in Turkey as well, but in Kusadasi and Ephesis. Nothing could have prepared me for the latter. Amazing. By the way, we did not buy a carpet! Enjoy. I will follow your adventure.

  7. There was no mention of food in that post. You ok?

  8. I do hope you sang our madonna version and added a few new lyrics to boot! xoxo miss you tons!