From Old to New

I feel like we walked through the entire history of Istanbul today.

We started with the old, the very old. What's now known as the Wall of Constantinope was first built by Greeks prior to 400 A.D. The wall protected the city from land invations and since Istanbul is on a peninsula, they were protected on their other fronts by the sea. We walked along a short strech of the ancient wall and had some great views of the city. It also took us through a poorer neighborhood which was a sharp contrast to the wealth we've seen in the touristy Old Town.

From the wall we moved on to the just kinda old.The Chora Church dates back to the 1100s and has some of the most beautiful Byzantine mosaics in existance. The mosaics are from a much later date - around the 14th century - so we see a better sense of dimension with more realism, action and emotion than you would normally find in Byzantine art. The art told the story of Mary's birth and Jesus' birth, with a pretty scary look at the Last Judgement - demons and river of fire included!

After the church, Crystal and I went to fish market for lunch - uggh - and boarded a sightseeing boat for a two hour tour of the Bosphorus Strait. The water, even close to the docks, is this amazing turquois blue. But that was the highlight of the trip. A couple of bridges and some big houses built on the side of the hills was all we saw. And Crystal wonders why I needed a nap after it. Snooze.

This evening we went back across the main bridge to the Galata Tower, another relic from the 14th century. We took an elevator to the top of the huge stone ediface and enjoyed some fantastic views of the Hagia Sophia from across the Golden Horn. We also got to listen to a German and Brit tourist solve the drug trade problem in Afghanistan. Their solution? Legalize opium in the U.S. Hmmm.

The day ended with the newest of the new. We took a stroll down Istiklal street, a cosmopolitian pedestrian street in the New Distric full of shops, restaurants and real Turks. We were surprised to see how few head scarfs we saw and there were hardly any of the conservative housecoats that we see women wearing in the Old Town area. The crowd was fun, friendly, trendy and made for a great evening of people watching. We enjoyed some bready snacks and had our first taste of Turkish Delight. But the real highlight was just walking along the European-style street enjoying the atmosphere. We could have been in London, Prague or Rome. For the first time I think we really got the feel of how this city is a true blend of East and West.