Our "Baby Moon" in Istanbul

We read lots of articles and heard from several friends that taking a "baby moon" before the arrival of your first born is a good idea.  Of course, we followed these suggestions and planned a trip!  Who doesn't like a nice vacation?  

The language school where we study had a week of Spring Break, so we thought that would be the best time to take a getaway...to Istanbul, Turkey!  Our original trip was scheduled for March 23 - 28, but God had other plans!  A blizzard hit the Kiev area on the evening of March 22nd, and by the next morning, all flights out were cancelled.  We ended up having a "staycation" in Kiev that week.  By God's grace, we were able to transfer the dates of our hotel reservations, purchase new airline tickets after the old ones were refunded, and reschedule our trip for April 13 - 18.  

We had a wonderful time in Istanbul!  Our hotel was in a great location--within walking distance of most of the tourist sites in the Old City.  While it was refreshing to get away, we still got plenty of exercise by doing most things on foot.  Andy, the family shutterbug, took over 1,700 pictures (many of which were duplicates and are still in the process of being deleted)!  This blog was a work in progress for quite a while as we narrowed down the pictures.  Here are the highlights of our "baby moon!"

Day 1: Saturday

We arrived to our hotel in the evening.  Much to our surprise, this view was about a 10-minute walk away!

First self-photo!  This was the nicest weather we had all week, so we were grateful that we decided to adventure to the coast.

Delicious first taste of Turkish food--kebabs!  We ordered lamb and chicken kebabs and the most delicious cheese pita bread!  The kebab refrigerator is on the right.

The Blue Mosque, located about 10-15 minutes from our hotel.

Cassie in front of the Blue Mosque.  This was shortly after the call to prayer, which resonates through the city from loudspeakers on the minarets (those tall pointy things on each side).

Just opposite the Blue Mosque is the Hagia Sophia, another one of Istanbul's architectural beauties.

Andy in front of the Hagia Sophia.

Day 2: Sunday

The hotel was having electrical problems the night we arrived, so they put us in a small apartment down the street.  The bed was the absolute most uncomfortable bed we've ever experienced, and Cassie had sore spots on her ribs for weeks!  We were transferred to this room on the second day, and the bed was much more comfortable!

Nice new hotel room with a nice bed and no moldy bathroom!

View of the neighborhood from our hotel room.

Monument located in the area of the old Hippodrome--it was a gift from the Egyptian king to the Turkish sultan and is covered with hieroglyphics. 

The Basilica Cistern, built from 527-565, was once used for storing the city's water supply.  You can go underground and tour the cistern, which is no longer functional.  It was nicknamed the "Sunken Palace."

The base of one of the columns in the Basilica Cistern is the upside-down head of Medusa.

Andy found Aslan in the park!  :)

22nd week pregnancy photo

BEAUTIFUL tulips in the park!  Actually, there are tulips all over Istanbul--it was so colorful and pretty!

The Hagia Sophia started as a Christian church during its construction in the 6th century, was turned in to a mosque in 1453, and remained a mosque until it was turned in to a museum in 1935.

Inside the Hagia Sophia

Main sanctuary of the Hagia Sophia.  You can see both Christian and Islamic elements inside the structure.

Amazing architecture!

You can see some Christian mosaics and some Islamic symbols (the circles) in the background.  This photo was taken on a second-floor balcony.

Christian mosaics that remain from the church's beginnings.

We didn't enjoy Turkish food on the second day.  We went to a mall in search of a Pizza Hut (which does not exist in Ukraine), but were disappointed to find out that it was no longer at that mall.  We ended up at a Japanese restaurant and were thrilled to find out that edamame was on the menu!  We've missed this tasty vegetable!

Interesting indoor-outdoor mall structure with five floors.

Day 3: Monday

This is the main entrance to Topkapi ("Cannon Gate") Palace, a large complex that is now a museum.  It was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years, and construction began in 1459.  At its peak, the palace was home to nearly 4,000 residents and included mosques, a hospital, a school, bakeries, and even a mint.  There was really no reason for anyone to ever leave the palace walls.

Turkish tiles are very elaborate--mostly in shades of blue and white.  These looked very similar to the tiles in the Blue Mosque and could be found throughout the palace.

Inner entrance to the palace--the hall we are in was the reception area for visitors and their horses.

Massive mirrors on both sides of the entrance--gilded in gold!

The harem apartments.  The sultan only had "one wife," but a whole palace full of other women who were mothers to his children.  The women who lived in these apartments were among the "highest ranked" in the palace.  They attended school on the palace grounds, too, as well as all of the children.

The palace is full of these neat-looking tiled fireplaces!  With Andy inside, you get a good idea of how tall they are.

If you've ever heard anything about Turkey, it's probably their famous bath houses.  This is the sultan's private bathroom.  You can see three water spouts on the marble steps.

Almost every room had these--they were either used as window coverings (like indoor shutters) or doors that are built in to the wall to hide recessed shelving units.  They were made of mother-of-pearl and tortoise shell.

The Sultan's Bedroom

The blue and white tiles that line the walls of the sultan's bedroom have verses from the Koran on them, written in Arabic.

One of the sitting rooms in the sultan's quarters

Garden in the palace courtyard

One of the four courtyards in the Topkapi palace--it was a busy place that day!

View from the palace walls

We found this tree while we were venturing around...couldn't help but take a picture!

The Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque--the walls are entirely covered with ceramic tiles and the ceilings are intricately painted to match the tile designs.  Absolutely incredible!

Visitors are not allowed beyond a certain point.  The people in the picture were there to pray.  Only men are allowed in the front of the church to pray--women have a small separate room in the back.

Women must cover their heads while inside the mosque.  Everyone is required to take off their shoes, too.  We carried ours in a little plastic bag so they wouldn't get stolen!

Inside the massive expanse called the "Grand Bazaar."  It's the third largest covered bazaar in the world!

You can buy just about any kind of souvenir item that you want in the Grand Bazaar--booth after booth of nothing but Turkish souvenirs!

Still in the Grand Bazaar...it's easy to get lost!

Scarves!  Thousands and thousands of scarves!

Day 4: Tuesday 

"The Church of the Holy Savior in Chora" (or Chora Church) is considered to be one of the most beautiful surviving examples of a Byzantine church.  The church was converted into a mosque in 1511 and is now a museum.  The Christian mosaics and frescoes that remain are from the 14th century.

A view of the Chora Church courtyard

A head covering wasn't needed inside the church, but it served as a nice umbrella since we didn't have one on this rainy day!

Exterior walls of the church

Only pieces of the mosaics remain, and they have tried hard to preserve the original look of the church.

One of the many domes of the church--Jesus in the middle with saints surrounding on the outside.

At the bottom of the mosaic, you can see that several small tiles are missing.  For as old as the church is, it's amazing they're still in tact at all!

Another mosaic

These mosaics on the ceiling of the main hallway of the church depict various stories from the Bible.

Paintings on the arch above one of the windows

Paintings depicting stories from the Bible on the hallway ceilings

Mosaic of Jesus above the entrance to the church

The main part of the mosaic is amazingly all in tact!

As we were walking around town, we ducked in to a small mosque to get out of the rain.

Our lunch!  The man is shaving off pieces of lamb from a rotisserie.  The spiced meat is put in to a wrap with vegetables and French fries and is called a "Doner Kebab."  Delicious!

We visited the Mosaics Museum, which houses Byzantine mosaics that were unearthed from the grounds of the Great Palace in Constantinople.  Almost all of the mosaics depict scenes with animals and hunting.

Low ceiling--watch out!

The details of the mosaics are fascinating, but Andy especially liked the ones with deer!

We checked out this small bazaar by our hotel (and not far from the Mosaics Museum), but after visiting the Grand Bazaar, we already had our souvenirs purchased!

Within just a five- to ten-minute walk from our hotel, we could see the Blue Mosque.  It was an all uphill walk!

We stayed at the Sirma Sultan Hotel.  Our room was the set of windows on the right on the second floor.

Since it was a rainy day, we decided to visit the Archaeological Museum, which ended up taking us most of the afternoon!  The complex housed several buildings of artifacts from all over the country of Turkey throughout the centuries.

Pottery

One of the buildings in the Archaeological Museum complex

Egyptian sarcophagus

The famous Alexander sarcophagus is made out of marble and came from the Royal Necropolis of Sidon in the 4th century.  It is the only sarcophagus in the museum that is protected by glass.

Battle scene from the Alexander sarcophagus.  Originally, there were colors painted on the marble, and you can see a little bit of red that remains on the cloth on the man's arm.

The sarcophagi were massive!  Cassie wanted her picture taken by one for size comparison.

Enjoying a delicious Middle Eastern meal--falafel (deep-fried, ground chickpeas) and hummus (pureed chickpeas)!  Yes, we like chickpeas!

We went back to the Blue Mosque before heading back to our hotel for the evening.  This is inside the mosque's main courtyard, facing the main entrance of the mosque.  The small domed structure is a foot-washing station.

Blue Mosque at night

Andy on the entry steps to the Blue Mosque courtyard

Day 5: Wednesday

In the courtyard of Dolmabahce Palace.  The palace was built between 1843 and 1856 and served as the main residence and administrative hub of six Ottoman sultans from 1856 to 1924.  Rumor has it that the Ottoman empire went bankrupt from building the palace.  The construction cost the equivalent of 35 tons of gold!  The ceilings of the 45,000 square meter palace are gilded in gold, and the center hall contains one of the largest Bohemian crystal chandeliers in the world--weighing 4.5 tons!  The palace is a mixture of several architectural styles and is not able to be described in words.  Unfortunately, pictures are not allowed inside, so we only have pictures from outside on the palace grounds.

Dolmabahce Palace is built along the Bosphorus River

The palace has a bird sanctuary, where we ran in to this beautiful peacock!

Another fountain in the courtyard

View of the coastline from the steps at the front of the palace

Cassie on the steps at the front of the palace.  There are over 25 entrances to the palace!

Another outside view of the palace

This place was absolutely incredible!  We couldn't stop taking pictures!

One of the many gates that surround the palace grounds.  The palace is surrounded by a wall on three sides and by water along its front.

Galata Tower, built in 1348

View from the top of the Galata Tower

Another view from Galata Tower--you can see several mosque minarets pointing out of the landscape.

Photo opportunity from Galata Tower

Our zoom lens works pretty well...this is the Hagia Sophia from the Galata Tower!

We took a taxi to the tower, but it wasn't far to walk back in to the Old City (the district where we stayed).  We discovered a boardwalk under the bridge.

One of the travel guide books said that you can see jellyfish in the Bosphorus.  There's one in the middle of the picture!  We saw a lot of them, but they're hard to take a picture of!

The New Mosque, one of Istanbul's best-known sites.  Construction began in 1597 and took more than half a century to complete.  The partially built structure was largely destroyed by a fire, and construction was finally completed in 1663.

View from the New Mosque--that's the Galata Tower in the middle.

Inside the New Mosque--it looked very similar to the Blue Mosque, especially with the tile and painting designs.

Cassie forgot to wear a scarf, so she didn't have a head covering.  She used Andy's hooded sweatshirt instead!

A Muslim man washing his feet in the courtyard of the mosque.

We walked through the Spice Bazaar on our way to lunch.  Turks are known to use a lot of spices in their food, and you can buy just about any kind of spice (and spice mixes) here.  You can also buy popular Turkish sweets--Turkish Delight and Baklava!

A view of the Spice Bazaar from the restaurant where we ate lunch.

Walking through a busy outdoor bazaar near the Spice Bazaar.

Since we did a lot of walking, we decided that stopping for dessert wouldn't be a bad idea.  Andy's choice--strawberry tart!

Cassie's dessert choice--Chocolate Chip Cheesecake!

We enjoyed a great view of the New Mosque from the cafe window.

Dinner at the Kumkapi Restaurant.  Cassie had lentil soup, which was deliciously spicy!

The kind waiter that "recruited" us to come in to the restaurant offered us a free fruit plate.  Um, yes, please!

Our last dinner in Turkey, so Andy had to have one more kebab--chicken this time.

We found the Kumkapi Restaurant (pictured here) in a huge restaurant district.  They are all built side-by-side and have indoor and outdoor seating.  Each restaurant has several "recruiters" waiting outside with menus to try to entice tourists to visit their restaurant.

Day 6: Thursday

View from our hotel's fourth floor breakfast terrace

The hotel reservation online said "traditional Turkish breakfast," which apparently meant an assortment of cheeses, cold meats, bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, and dried fruit.  There were a few cereal options, too.  Not our favorite breakfast choices, but it was offered every morning as a part of the price, so we ate it!

You have to appreciate this store's effort for trying English...

In front of the Blue Mosque, just killing some time before we had to go to the airport.

We hadn't been to the coast since the night we arrived, so we went back during the day.  A storm was rolling in, but we got to the airport without getting wet!

The pregnant one got a little excited about the airline meals!  (European flights are great--even on a two-hour flight, we got a full meal)!

"The billowing clouds are the dust beneath His feet."  -Nahum 1:3b