Adventures in Istanbul Part 4

Our final days in Istanbul, we began with a visit to the Hagia Sophia.  It was very cold inside, and I thought the boys would be bored of yet another church, but they were very impressed with the architecture and the little bits of trivia the husband had picked up from a tour he took on his last visit to Istanbul.  The sheer scale of the building is amazing, and the ways in which Christian and Muslim elements are intertwined were fascinating.  The boys loved the hidden passages and huge chandeliers, as well as the frescoes and mosaics.  Afterwards, we also visited the archeological museum, which was impressive but frustratingly under construction.  We also almost had an international incident when J backed into a pillar holding an ancient bust, which then teetered heart-stoppingly while we looked on aghast.  Fortunately, the bust stayed upright, but, from that moment on, J had to hold one of our hands while we walked, and we were all relieved to get out of the museum safely.

Try to keep your thumb in the hole while rotating completely
around: only I was able to do it!

Ancient baptismal font. 

One last shot of the Blue Mosque.

The husband thought these guys looked a little like our boys!

Looking inside a hidden nook, filled with all sorts of treasures
I'm pretty sure were put there by boys like mine 500 years ago.

This is what we looked like every day, walking and/or waiting for the trolley.
Istanbul is a great place for walking even when it's cold--there is always
something yummy to eat along your way.

We thoroughly enjoyed all our time in Istanbul.  Our Airbnb apartment was spacious, very centrally located, and a perfect home base for us.  Our excellent hosts even gave us t-shirts when we left; how's that for service?  Istanbul itself was kid-friendly and entertaining, the food was SUPERB, and the weather was excellent for exploring.   We were nervous going when we did, so soon after the bombing in Sultanamet Square, but we were safe and happy the whole time.  Unfortunately, the situation there has continued to deteriorate, which saddens us to no end.  Istanbul is such a wonderful city and the Turkish people were so warm and welcoming to us, we wish it could always be as safe as it was for us.  Hopefully it will be again soon.