The rest of Istanbul

It's been awhile since I've said that I would post some more pictures of Istanbul.  The reason is that I have been super busy with my parents visiting Izmir and then right after they left I had to pack my apartment in Izmir Turkey and move back to the USA.  After 4 long years I get to live in the US.  The best part is that now I get to live my my family again.  Looking back on the year it flew by but I'm not sure the same could be said for Amy's year.  With 4 kids and no help from me I'm sure it seemed like an eternity.  

The last 2 weeks we have enjoyed getting reacquainted and I've spent a lot of time unpacking and spending time with the kids.  It has been a blast and the best part is that I don't have to go to work until 16 June.  The bad part about that is that I have to work in Texas for the next 4 months so this is just a quick reunion before I depart for some training.  After that I should be at home for the next 3 years.  

As promised in the last post I said that I was going to post some more photos of Istanbul.  So here they are. 

Blue Mosque at night.

Inside the courtyard of the Blue Mosque.

 Obelisk of Theodosius next to the Blue Mosque.

Blue Mosque during the day.  It was completely packed with tourists and this was the first weekend of the "Official tour season".

Inside the Blue Mosque.  Very impressive.  You can go in when it is not prayer time.  

All of the wires where to hold the chandeliers.

 Mom and one of the columns that hold the place up.  The column looked like California Redwood.  It was seriously like 30 feet around.

Looking at the Blue Mosque via a window of the Hagia Sofia.

Blue Mosque from the park.

Looking from the Blue Mosque to the Hagia Sofia.

 Inside the front door of the Hagia Sofia.  This was place was truly remarkable.  It was completely huge and very ornate inside.  Well worth the price of admission.

Huge doors that let into the main chamber of the Hagia Sofia.

Equivalent to the pulpit in the Mosque.  The Hagia Sofia was built originally as a Christian church.

Inside the Hagia Sofia.  At the top was a painting of the Virgin Mary and the Christ child.

Close up of the Virgin Mary and the Christ child.

A cross that is located within the Hagia Sofia.

Looking down from the second level.  Again the place was huge. 

Mom and Dad Otis overlooking the inside of the Hagia Sofia.

Mosaic of Christ in the Hagia Sofia. 

Another mosaic.

Another shot of walking through the front doors of the Hagia Sofia.

 Lots of tulips around Istanbul.  They were everywhere.

The Basilica Cisterns across the street from the Hagia Sofia.  When the Hagia was built they also built the cisterns to house their water supply.  They also shot a James Bond movie in here.

More of the Cisterns.  There were fish swimming within the waters.

Inside the Topkapi Palace within the Harem.  Very ornate ceilings.

This was called the wall of blue tiles.  All of the art work was done on tiles that they plastered all over the place.

Another ceiling within the Harem.  There were several rooms.  The Sultan had many women.  

Hagia Sofia from the ferry boat that we took across the water way.

Random building at the ferry dock were we landed.

Maidens tower in Istanbul in the Bosphorous River.