Headed to Panama for a one-week job with a free day included.....

.....working for a trucking company I'm not familiar with called Agrekko.  I'll fly down Saturday, January 4 and have the next day free to explore--I'm trying to line up some sort of canal day trip.  Then I'll be working five days and returning on the following Saturday, the 11th.  Will post pictures and impressions.

Revisited the Hagia Sophia, Found a Mileage Marker, Met a MonkeyMan, and Climbed the Oldest Intact Tower in the World.....

.....and on our two free days, everybody kind of did their own things.

The day after the race we moved to another hotel--cheaper rates--that was still located in the Old City.  The night before, I walked up and wandered around the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia and tried to take some night pictures.  Unfortunately, my phone camera doesn't do real well at night.

The antiquity here is astounding.  Although Egypt was much, much older, I find the history here more interesting.  The obelisk in the foreground is from the Column of Constantine dated around the 10th century. The obelisk in the background is much older, around 390 AD.  It is an Egyptian relic brought here during the Byzantine period.  Another exhibit in the hippodrome is remains of the serpent column--once an eight-headed snake.  One of the heads is in the local archaeological museum here.  It is a 4th century relic.

Like I said, we kind of split up on our free days and Devin and I revisited the Hagia Sophia.  It is one of the most amazing buildings I've ever visited.  Construction started in the year 532 AD and the first structure was a wooden building which burned down.  It was replaced by a second building of marble which was burned during rioting.  Some remains of that second building have been excavated.

One of the frescoes is of twelve sheep, thought to have represented the twelve apostles.

The third, and current, building was then constructed.  The name Hagia Sophia means "temple of holy knowledge," and this building commands awe.  Thought to still be the fourth largest church in the world, it has served as an Eastern Orthodox basilica, a temporary Latin Roman cathedral, a Muslim mosque, and today is a Turkish national museum.  The history here is just incredible, starting with the worn entrances through the doorways.  How many feet have worn this marble down over the centuries?

The first thing that hits you inside is the massive dome.

While it is not the largest free-standing dome in the world, it was one of the first of this magnitude.  It is constructed much like an archway with a keystone at the top applying pressure to keep the arch intact.  Only here, in a dome, the top stones hold the entire arch in place with no standing columns to hold it up.  This engineering marvel was constructed 1600 years ago!  The unsupported weight of the dome applies downward pressure on the walls, which are reinforced with what are called "flying buttresses"--a common construction technique in European cathedrals.

This is actually the third dome on the building--earthquakes have destroyed the first two.  It's still a concern here as evidenced by the "seismic sensors" in the walls.

The ugly square carved into the wall in the upper part of the photo held a pane of glass.  In the event of seismic activity, the glass would crack and they could search for structural damage throughout the building Today they use the sheets of paper on the lower part of the picture with two black squares.  These are located throughout the museum and while they are ugly, they are reference points for laser readings for earthquake activity.

The doors, while not originals, are also massive.

Doors to the Hagia Sophia have been key to events here several times over the centuries.  In 1204, the Fourth Crusade diverted from it's journey to free Jerusalem and, instead, sacked and nearly destroyed the Hagia Sophia.  Devin seems far more knowledgeable about ancient history than I, but I learned a lot about this period on this trip.  The Fourth Crusade was formed by an alliance with the Roman church and the Venetian churches and it is thought now the crusade was focused entirely on capturing riches and precious artifacts.  It was led by a 90-year-old blind Venetian named Enrique Dandolo, whose remains were interred here.

Hagia Sophia was under the direction of the Eastern Orthodox Church which was, and is, in direct opposition to the Roman Catholic Church.  In 1202-1204, Hagia Sophia represented the crown jewel of religious basilicas.  Hagia Sophia was literally loaded with golden imagery and wealth that even the Vatican couldn't match.  So the Fourth Crusade, organized by Rome and Venice, set out for Jerusalem loaded with European military mercenaries.  On the way, however, they decided to detour and sack Constantinople for the wealth in Hagia Sophia.  The crusade never made it to Jerusalem, but instead, sacked Hagia Sophia and stole all the wealth here.  Precious manuscripts were destroyed, the basilica was stripped and everything of value was taken.  Two huge bronze horses at the Hippodrome were shipped to Venice where they remain today on the steps of the cathedral there.  Most of the rich history of Hagia Sophia remains today in the churches and cathedrals of Europe--a festering issue with the Eastern Orthodox Church.  In 2004, Pope John Paul XXIII issued an apology for the behavior of the Fourth Crusaders but none of the wealth has been returned.  The Fourth Crusade was, shamefully, a war of "Christian on Christian."  It never made it to Jerusalem.

Things got worse in 1453 with the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.  The Eastern Orthodox population here had been dwindling for decades and the Hagia Sophia was in disrepair.  From the hill where we observed the start of the Istanbul Marathon earlier this week, the Ottoman invaders stormed across the Golden Horn, breached the massive walls of the city, and attacked the Hagia Sophia.

As the remaining Eastern Orthodox Christians knelt praying beneath the dome, the Muslims battered in the doors and slaughtered the elderly with axes and swords, raped the women in front of the altar to Christ, and enslaved the younger males.

Hagia Sophia was then converted into a "victory mosque."  Christian imagery was painted and plastered over--some of which is being restored today.  This 12th century mosaic of Christ seated between John the Baptist and Mary is one example.

The building was then converted into a Mosque.  Four minarets were added.

And a Muslim prayer chancellery.

And the obligatory monument directing to Mecca was added.

Christians tend to lament the loss of Hagia Sophia to Islam, but our guide pointed out a really good observation--Hagia Sophia was deteriorating and would have collapsed and been destroyed had not the Muslim Ottomans conquered Constantinople.  Only because of their assumption of control did the magnificent structure survive.

Personally, I appreciate that.  I've seen too many examples of religious extremism destroying treasures and heritage irregardless of the religion.  In Egypt I walked the underground tunnels in the Valley of the Kings where Coptic Christians had gone in and chiseled off the genitals of the 4,500 year old hieroglyphics and in Angkor Wat I saw where Hindu extremists had chiseled beards on the ancient Buddhas--a direct affront to Buddhism.  I'm firmly convinced religion has caused more misery than redemption for the human race over the eons.

Not all images of Christ were covered over.  As I said earlier in a post, Christ was considered a prophet--even an important prophet--and some images were left intact.

The history here is just incredible.  Of all the places I've been fortunate to visit, few have affected me like the Hagia Sophia.

Outside the grounds, Devin and I found another unusual marker--the Milion marker designating the origin of the ancient Roman road system.  It was from here, that all measurements were made with regards to transporting troops, goods, trade materials and anything else within the Roman Empire.

That evening we all got together again for dinner and met up with a monkey man.

The food here was great.  As a vegan vegetarian, Devin had no problem eating in the restaurants here with the Mediterranean food.  I ate vegetarian a lot on this trip, but when I was in the mood for meat, I loved the lamb--especially the kebabs.

On the last day here, we free-lanced it.  Alida and Genevieve went shopping while Devin and I explored the Old City.  In the afternoon we all hiked across the Golden Horn Bridge and checked out the oldest standing Medieval  tower anywhere--the Galatia Tower.

After that, it was back to the hotel, another great dinner, and the flight back was 13 hours but went as well as could be hoped for.  This was a great vacation and trip.

I'm off to Dubai in February.

Took a Train Under the Bosporus Strait for Supper, Checked Out a Turkish Coffee House, Visited the Terminal of the Old Orient Express, and Did the Istanbul Marathon......

.....and, frankly, I didn't expect this trip to be so packed with activities but it's been great.

The second evening here, we were having a reception at the lounge in the hotel here and somebody said "Let's to to Asia for Supper."  A bunch of us took taxis to the brand new underwater train service and caught about a fifteen minute train to the Asian side and had dinner.  The train actually goes through a tunnel beneath the Bosporus Strait.  The station had only been open ten days at that time--was pretty big in the news a couple of weeks ago.

It was a fun trip--the train and stations were obviously immaculately clean--and the dinner was fun.

Next morning was an "off day" and everybody slept in and in the afternoon we went back to the Spice Market and pretty much just wandered around and enjoyed the sights and smells.  Stopped at a Turkish Coffee place--a real one, not Starbucks (although they do have Starbucks here but won't check them out).

It's definitely a "coffee culture" over here although I've pretty much converted to tea at home, but it was interesting.

This old machine stirred, roasted and ground the beans in one operation.  The final result is a super-strong coffee that ends up with about a quarter-inch of grounds in the bottom of your cup.

It's almost required to mix in a lot of milk and sugar to digest.  Personally, I didn't try one--I'd had a Turkish coffee once when I was in the army.

Walking back to the hotel, we stumbled across the old railroad terminal--the final destination for the famous Orient Express.  While the Express closed down in 2007, the terminal still operates and the old historical section is operational.

Lot's of history in this old building, World War I intrigue, Cold War spies, and , of course,the famous "Murder on the Orient Express."

The next morning (yesterday), was race day.  We were up early and took a bus over to the Asian side, making an unexpected stop at the highest point in Istanbul, again, on the Asian side.  For the first time this trip, the weather had turned beautiful and the views of the city were great.  I shot this photo of a barge going under the Bosporus Bridge.  On the very left-center, you can see the toll booths, which were actually the starting point for the race.  We ran across the bridge into the Old City, meaning that we started in Asia and ended up in Europe--the world's only transcontinental race.

The race itself was well-organized and great fun.  There weren't that many Americans here although our group had 33 runners.  There was a strong European presence--especially Scandinavian.

It was truly international.  This older Japanese runner couldn't run fifty feet without somebody wanting to take his photo.  Here's mine:

Even the local sheep got into the spirit.....

As had happened in Iceland, the marathon and half-marathon routes crossed at one point and I just happened to meet Devin going the other direction there.  A brief "high-five" and didn't see him again for a while.  I finished my race in 2:14 (I started in the back of the pack at the beginning so I was about a minute behind the starter clock), and was satisfied with my run.

Afterwards, I walked about three or four miles over to the finish line for the marathon and saw Devin finish.  He's the orange jersey in the center of the picture.

He was trying to beat four hours and finished in 3:59:47 so he was happy with his result.  Genevieve and Alida finished just over six hours which, technically, was over the 5 1/2 hour limit but they got their medals anyway.  It was Alida's first official marathon, so it was a good day all around.

 Last night a group of us met up in the hotel lounge.  I was kind of concerned about my legs being so sore and stiff but Devin was the same way.  Turned out a lot of the runners were in the same shape and supposedly it was the cobblestone streets we were running on.  Anyway a small group of us went to an Irish pub beside the Blue Mosque (something strange about that combination) for fish and chips and a celebratory drink.

Definitely a good day, an excellent trip so far, and we now have two free days before we fly back.  Since these two days weren't included with the tour, Alida found another hotel in the Old City that was about half the price and we'll be moving there later this morning.

Good Flight, Non-Stop Two Days of Touring, and a Day Off Before the Race......

......the flight was, well, a twelve-hour flight but the plane was only about half full and we were able to line up three empty seats and lay down and get some sleep on the way over here.

The hotel is very old, but has been beautifully restored.  It sits right inside the Old City Wall.  This Istanbul peninsula is the most besieged area in recorded history and much of the old wall is intact.  Our hotel sits just inside one the main gates.

After arriving at the hotel, the group took a night-time walking tour of the Old City.  Virtually everything of historical importance is within ten minutes walking from the hotel.  After the tour, we split up and the four of us found a vegetarian restaurant for supper.  The food here is great--I've never tasted cheese and olives like what we have here.

The next morning we started what would be a fourteen-hour day of touring.  We started with the historic Blue Mosque--a 400-year-old mosque that dominates the Istanbul skyline.  It wasn't my first mosque visit but this is probably the most impressive--a lot on the scale of the Mohammad Ali Mosque in Cairo.

As required, Alida and Genevieve bought and wore scarves.

Devin and I wore Dynamo jackets.

After the mosque visit, we headed literally across the street to the Hagia Sophia. Construction started in the year 537 and it was an Eastern Orthodox cathedral for the Patriarchate of Constantinople except for a century of serving as a Roman Catholic center during the Latin Empire.  After the Muslim conquest, it was converted into a "victory mosque" from 1453 until 1931.  When Turkey became a secular republic at that time, it was converted into a museum.  it is/was the fourth largest church in the world.  Nearly four times older than the Blue Mosque and much, much larger, it is one of the most impressive buildings I've seen anywhere.

Although the Muslims painted over much of the 5th and 6th century Christian icons, many still remain, including some of Christ and Mary that were never covered over.

This isn't unusual, as Christ is considered an Islamic prophet, just not immaculately conceived nor resurrected.  What was kind of kind of surprising is that the tomb and marker of the commander of the Fourth Crusade is located inside the building.

After the Hagia Sophia, we visited the underground Basilica Cistern--constructed in the 6th century.  Although dark and low-light, it is considered the greatest example of Byzantine architecture.  Also massive, it was necessitated by the fact that Constantinople was the most besieged city in history and had no fresh-water sources during those sieges.  Typical of Roman engineering, aqueducts carried water over ten miles into the cistern and rainwater was funneled into the underground lake.

A walkway went out into the center and two of the columns had, at the base, an inverted carving of Medusa.  

From there, we went to the grand bazaar--dated 1451 A.D. on the entrance.

The bazaar was mildly-interesting--I've seen them all over the world.  I thought the one in Cairo was much more exotic and interesting.  This one was very commercialized rather than vendor-oriented.
Returning to the hotel, we had a welcome reception and outline for the second day's touring.