Joey Joe Joe: In stan bull Baby....I mean Istanbul

Now we got the flavour, the bad behaviour
The rhythm the melody, the juice for you to savour,
Rockin and vibin somebody is jivin,
You need to take a tip, sort it out, get a grip,

If You Can't Dance, Spice Girls

I had been so excited about going to Instanbul.

After all the wonderful things I had heard about it from other travellers I was excited to see it for myself! It wasn't until I was booking tickets and hotels I realised it's Istanbul! Embarrassed by how much of a tool I would have sounded referring to it as Instanbul for 25 years, let me publicly apologise here! Anyway, let's explore Constantinople, I mean Instanbull, I mean Istanbul! AGH!

The Grand Bazaar!

Boasting 60 streets and 5 000 shops these covered markets are at the heart of Turkish shopping. To be honest at first it was even a little overwhelming. Every direction you looked were shops, people and more shops. The Bazaar attracts between 250 000 - 400 000 shoppers daily. Selling ceramics, jewellery, clothing, souvenirs, turkish spices, sweets, teas and turkish delight!

Alison and I visited the Bazaar twice in our four days in Istanbul. Each time we left with an assortment of bags. A very authentic and exciting shopping experience. There is nothing more I enjoy than haggling when shopping, and getting items at half the price first quoted is such a satisfying feeling!

Following with our traditional experiences we headed to a tradition Turkish bathhouse. Here you take a steam, have hot water thrown over you, then you are beaten and scrubbed with an exfoliating pillow case, before, they throw a melody of hot then cold water over you. And as you sit there trying to figure out if you were molested or just abused they pull you up and lead you to the pool for your 'relaxing' time. This joyful experience was a birthday present from my cousin Cat (who may hate me)! No, it all seriousness it was a cool experience and my skin was so soft afterwards and I felt thoroughly clean for days after. I do however, believe I will continue to wash myself in future. :P

We saw these guys making fresh Lolly Pops everywhere in Istanbul. And every time there we stood like children fascinated by these guys. Staring in amazement as they wrapped each individual colour around the stick and hand it to young children. Sadly, our parents were not there to buy us one.

The Blue Mosque to travellers but, Sultanahmet Mosque to locals is the most famous mosque in Turkey. The interior mosaics are stunning.

As you scan the interior of this beautiful mosque, built in 1616,

you recognise the predominately blue tile, providing such an iconic name in the Western World.

The Hagia Sophia and it's fascinating history originally sparked my interest in Turkey.
Originally built as a church around 537, Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) served as a church until taken by the Ottoman Empire and used as a Mosque in 1453.

The Islamic leaders didn't deface or tear down the original designs of the Christians but rather plastered over them. And placed there symbols and designs over the top. It served as an Islamic mosque until 1931 when it was secularised (not circlearised - it truly proved a trip that pointed out my mispronunciation of words). The restores were able to pull down the plastered walls and unearth the Christian art underneath. In 1935 it opened as a museum, unifying this place of worship where now Islamic and Christian symbols stand side by side. You stare up at these impressive, delicate images of Mary and Jesus, apace with these magnificent Islamic discs.

It is such a surreal and bizarre experience walking around the museum and seeing both religions displaying their glory. Imagining the Christians and then Muslims worshiping here in such different times. As a Christian I walked around thinking how God must feel about this place once, a place for His worship and or His dwelling and then used to worship Allah.

Hagia Sophia wishing pillar has also drawn in many tourists.

It is the site where St Gregory the Miracle Worker appeared in 1200.

It is now believed touching the moist thumb indentation cures many illnesses.

You exit the Hagia Sophia by this 'Beautiful Door'

The Basilica Cistern (Sunken Palace) was not something I had heard of before arriving in Istanbul. It is a large beautiful cistern that used to be full and provide water to the city, especially the Hagia Sophia. It was built in the 6th Century and worked on by 7 000 slaves. The Basilica Cistern however, is gorgeous and one of the highlights of our trip. Allison and I were lucky enough to get a private tour around the inside of the cistern.

It also had a 'wishing pillar' where you could wish for anything.

Two Medusa heads stand at the bottom of two collumns. It is unknown where and when the Turkish got these heads and why they were used in the cistern. Though there are a few interesting theories.

On our last day in Istanbul we took the tram over to Taksim.

As we surfaced from the tram we saw a mysterious church in the distance. We searched road after road but try as we might we could not gain access to this church. Naturally rumours emerged as to why the church was hidden and some conspiracy theories were invented. Even though we will never know the truth, the horrors of the torture church and the stories of those who suffered there will never be forgotten by the three travellers.

We walked across the park and onto the other side of Taksim. This too was a risk and those who built the mysterious church would not have liked us crossing sides. However, we needed to secure our safety. So we crossed the road with the broken bridge and found the promised park...

I'm not sure if we were over tired or just too creative for this world but we sure had some fun in our beloved Taksim!

We spent our last night in Istanbul eating delicious food and celebrating our adventure with a few drinks!

And talking about food....

The Turkish food was divine, food seriously is one of the best things about traveling. Hold on tight to that dry salad your probably forcing down and let me show you some of the reasons I’ve doubled in size…