The Travelin' Redhead

Turkish baklava, Turkish delights and pistachio  and chocolate Turkish milk pudding were all delicious. The Hagia Sophia is even more majestic at night. Its great orange, glowing facade seems to rise high above the surrounding park where tourists and locals gather for a peaceful little seat with a view. Men pushing street carts were roasting chestnuts and corn-on-the-cob while the fountain's lights changed from green to pink and blue to purple. With our stomachs full of the Turkish delights and Turkish tea from the famous Hafiz Mustafa tea house, we strolled around the fountain between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. The moon was out and the buildings were dazzling. I could spend 1,001 nights in Istanbul taking in this view. Underground Istanbul But since we didn't have that kind of time, we had packed in some more interesting activities for the day. We took a slightly creepy stroll through an ancient underground water storage facility also known as t...

The call to prayer is amplified through these towers, called minarets. The eery sound of men calling out and singing in the early morning darkness woke us up at 5:30 a.m. The call to prayer seemed to echo across Istanbul as the voices of men singing and chanting were amplified from the top of the tall towers that surround the mosques. To a Muslim, this probably sounds normal. But to untrained ears, it sounds sorrowful. It almost sounds like the guy singing is actually lamenting something very, very sad. Once we slept off our jet lag, we walked the same marble floors emperors walked back in the days of old Constantinople. Strolling inside the Hagia Sophia, now known as Aya Sofya in Turkish, it's easy to see why it was known as the "Great Church." For nearly a thousand years, no building could beat its massive dome-on-rectangle construction. Built during the sixth century A.D., it's hard to believe it is so old. Where Jesus sparkles from underneath ...