Day 2 - Grocery Shopping, Hagia Sophia, Sufi music

Here we are on Day 2 - 19 more days to go.

Munir and I decided to pop a short walk away to Istiklal Street (2 blocks away) to do some grocery shopping for our flat. We bought shampoo/conditioner, mouthwash, bread, cheese, milk, etc for breakfast/lunch. Munir had to stop by the Turkcell shoppe to see about his Turkish mobile number as there seemed to be problems with connection.

Came back to the flat and boiled some eggs and had cheese, bread and eggs for breakfast with chai (Turkish tea). Although it wasn't really chai the way the Turks do, as we added milk to it. Turks are very particular about their 'chai' and drink it out of tiny glasses and no milk is added, only cube sugar. We all had showers (now that we had soap and shampoo in the flat!) - figured out how to turn the hot water tank on first. They are also very cautious about electricity costs here, unlike in Abu Dhabi where electricity is so cheap.

We all walked up to Istiklal Street again and headed towards the Venicular (spelling??) but on the way saw police force guarding the ING Bank and there seemed to be some kind of commotion happening on Istiklal Street and Munir got a bit anxious. It was a bit anxious for us for about 10 minutes then we were relaxed. We took the Venicular (spelling?) down the hill towards the Bosphorus and then caught the tram to Sultanahmet. The Venicular is basically a type of train which goes from 1 stop back to another basically up and down a long steep hill. It is about a 5 minute ride. Sultanahmet is the area of Istanbul where the Ottoman Empire was once ruled from. It consists, besides several other landmarks, Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmet Mosque, and the Topkapi Palace.

Once we reached Sultanahmet area, crossed the street, you could tell it is a very touristy place. As we walked along the strip, these gorgeous exotic earrings caught my attention, so I picked up a few pairs, and found out the rest of the store was downstairs in the building. Went downstairs and I have never seen so much exotic jewellery before - mostly silverworks with beads galore and other exotic looking jewellery. Went back upstairs outside after purchasing 3 pairs of earrings and 1 necklace. Stopped by the icecream stand at the top , where the boys had just eaten icecream from. I have to tell you about the Istanbuli ice cream guys - they play all sorts of tricks on you when you orde ice cream, its cute. The ice cream is delicious it is very thick and when you lick it it actually is a bit "marzipanish" like on your tongue. We went next door afterwards to a travel agent, and Munir was checking into different tourist tours available. We may go to the Black Sea tomorrow (Sunday) by boat with this agency - there was also a Whirling Darwish event as well another day which we will probably attend. After the travel agent, we each ordered a donair sandwich and a few drinks and then headed towards the Hagia Sophia.

Hagia Sophia - what can I say. It must be at least 2000 years old, once a Greek Temple, converted to a Cathedral during the Roman Empire ages, and then to a mosque and now as a museum. All of the Turkish mosques were modelled after the Hagia Sophia with its remarkable and distinctive architecture with many domes, etc. Upon entering the Hagia Sophia, I felt very taken by its beauty and symbolism. Could not believe how high the centre dome and ceiling is in general! The symbolism that are there is for an example there is the painting of Virgin Mary with the Christ on her lap above the altar area, and then when it was converted to a mosque, there were huge names hung, including in arabic "Allah " (God) and Mohammed on either side of Virgin mary's painting. How much more symbolic can you get?

I could talk for hours about the Hagia Sophia, but will move on to our ride home. Took the same way home as we came, and then reached Taksim (the area where we are staying) and Istiklal Street.

We got home, had something to eat and Munir and I got ready to go out to our Sufi music demonstration class at the local Music store on Istiklal Street. We had seen this store yesterday who were offering the classes. Very spiritual indeed.

Afterwards, Munir and I went for tea and then came home around 12 midnight. Both boys were fast asleep.

Good night for now will write more tomorrow.