Europe Fall 2025 Highlight #4

From Malta, Newton and I flew to Istanbul, Türkiye. This is the spelling that "Turkey" prefers, with the extra syllable at the end.

Istanbul's history is rich. From Greek Byzantium to Roman Constantinople to Ottoman Istanbul, Pagan to Christian to Islamic, it literally straddles the line between Europe and Asia by way of the strait of Bosphorus. Istanbul is built on two continents! 

              

The city is bustling with people—ubiquitous bearded men who smoke profusely—others, clean-shaven and tobacco-free; head-scarved to bare-headed women, families, tourists. And cats. They are everywhere, healthy and lovingly indulged by the populace.

Our brief stay featured a daily stroll past side streets full of eateries to the crowded pedestrian thoroughfare. A winding downhill street of charming stores, restaurants and cats ended at our tram station.

         

Tram with Sultan Ahmet Mosque

HONORABLE MENTION: The Sultanahmet neighborhood was our repeated destination. History is stacked on top of itself here with the infamous Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace—home to Ottoman sultans for 400 years—and hidden gems!

Hagia Sophia was built by the Roman Emperor Justinian I in the 6th Century as the Cathedral of Constantinople, the center of the Eastern Orthodox world. Its enormous dome was considered an architectural miracle. The Greek name means "Holy Wisdom," though Europeans mistakenly dubbed it, "Santa Sophia," not realizing the church was dedicated to divine wisdom, not a female saint.

The Ottomans converted it to a mosque, with the signature minarets.

The call to prayer that emanated from Hagia Sophia was the only live voice we heard marking the five daily pauses for prayer during our two weeks in the country. Sadly, many were marred recordings full of static. A favorite passage from a favorite book will always come to mind regarding this one of the five Pillars of Islam...

Patrick Bringley, a brilliant writer, sought the refuge of becoming a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York while grieving the loss of his brother. His incredible account of the healing experience in All the Beauty in the World recounts his impressions when assigned the Islamic galleries. Regarding the "mihrab"—a niche facing Mecca used for daily prayers, he wrote:

“I think about what it must be like to return five times a day to a ritual designed to fix the mind on oneness. I belong to no particular religious tradition, but I often feel the need to be tied-back—reconnected—as the roots of the word re-ligion connote…to brush away trivial concerns & commune with something more basic. I stare into the mihrab not as a pious worshipper, but as a worshipper nevertheless.”

We visited the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Mosque) that sits opposite Hagia Sophia. Headscarves are required for women and no shoes required of all:

The exquisitely beautiful Arabic calligraphy in which the Qur'an is written all over the world. 

These panels of blue Islamic tiles—full of the sacred geometry and vegetation that adorn Islamic art rather than the forbidden images of the Prophet Mohamed— were this textile designer's dream!

HIGHLIGHT #4: 

A poster with the image of "Basilica Cistern" intrigued us, so we descended to this underground wonder.

What a vision immersed us: over 300 marble columns salvaged from ancient Roman ruins and pieced together, lit in subtly changing colors, rising around 30' from the shallow water under walkways. You can see why this other-worldly place got the 'Basilica" name. Emperor Justinian built this in the 6th Century as a cistern—water reserves for the city. There is something mysteriously enveloping about the air, the quiet, the changing shadows that made me want to stay and stay. 

                  

         

     

Still savoring the hauntingly beautiful Basilica Cistern, we got in line to pay for entry into Hagia Sophia. The Cistern had cost $85. There was comment about extensive construction underway inside the mosque; we were hungry...so we left the line. Regrets, I've had a few, but this decision is a big one. Newton and I briefly enter every church that's open on our path as we travel through Italy. Each is inevitably unique. I had to resort to online photos of the interior of one of the most famous religious structures in the world that was merely some money and some yards away. Here's one:

Later, we entered these two Eastern Orthodox churches, serving the small percentage of Christians.

                                   

Of course, the compulsory Istanbul market could not be avoided...

My gigantic bar of olive oil soap is now down to a sliver; I'll start the almond soap soon. The perfect Kilim pillow cover called out "take me home!" The only other thing we bought was a tiny Sufi Dervish figure to hang on the Christmas tree. I'm haggling over it here:

                    
The spices were so beautiful, along with a mirage of items, and the Turkish Delight sample I was offered was so very pistachio and delicious that the nice man gave me another sample...even though we had no room to carry a box home. Sad. I'm salivating.

After three days of wonderful cuisine and our new favorite beer, Efes, off we flew to experience HIGHLIGHT #5...coming eventually to you! 

Hint: "High."