Istanbul at night.......
Trip Start
Mar 10, 2011
1
5
79
Trip End
Mar 28, 2011
Where I stayed
Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
Friday, March 11, 2011
Temperature: 3 degrees Celsius
Weather: dark sky, cool breeze
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It was 7:30pm in the evening when I jumped inside one of the yellow taxis that the bellboy had just called for me. Michel was right behind me. The weather was much colder but regardless, I was prepared by already wearing my black beret and warm gloves.
After the hotel's staff told the taxi driver in Turkish our desired destination, we were driven down the busy streets of Istanbul to one of the oldest part of the city, a part better known historically as Constantinople.
Constantinople or better yet Istanbul used to be the capital city of Turkey 330 AD way up until 1923 when Ankara became Turkey’s capital city after a civil revolution. So, here we were being driven along the Bosphorus Strait to this oldest part of the city where most of the main attractions were located but my main reason for wanting to go there was simply because I anxiously wanted to see Turkey’s famous Blue Mosque…..you guessed it…..at night!
Stepping outside the taxi and into the darkness of the night, we easily made our way up a hill by walking on the narrow sidewalks along the cobblestone streets. We were heading in the direction that was pointed to us by the cab driver since his car was not allowed to go even further up.
In the far distance, the tall illuminated minarets of the elegant Blue Mosque were what guided us to its location. Looking around me, many shops were still open selling various articles such as handmade carpets and beautiful glass lamps in various shapes and colours.
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque or better known as the Blue Mosque for its blue tiles adorning the wall of its interior structure looked quite stunning at night with all of its lights on. It was built between 1609 and 1616 and had six slender towers. Since we were here just to admire the Mosque at night with all of its lights on, the interior wasn’t visited, that being done at a much later date as part of our tour’s itinerary. We did however walked all around the Mosque and let me tell you….I wasn’t disappointed at all, it looked absolutely stunning, every step of the way.
Behind the Blue Mosque, the magnificent Hagia Sophia Museum, a former Orthodox basilica, later a mosque and now a museum looked splendid as it stood silently in total darkness illuminated only by the multicolour water fountains in front of it. It was built in 360 AD and even though it was open, we elected not to visit it since it was also part of our tour’s highlights.
Having seen what we came to see, we walked around old Istanbul for a while along the cobblestone streets. We were surrounded by locals and many tourists and regardless of the hour of the night, the area was vibrant with people having drinks or a bite to eat on open patio terraces and this, regardless of the coolness in the air.
Monique :-)
