Turkey Day 1 _ 9 Oct 2011

Upon arrival, we headed to Hippodrome Square, Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia immediately. Our Local Tour Guide has given us a clear insight on how Hagia Sofia ( 1500 yrs old ) was captured by the Turks Ottoman 500 yrs ago and how Blue Mosque was built to surpass Hagia Sofia but failed to. There were lots of picture taken in these buildings (especially Hagia Sofia with lots of Byzantine wall paintings) but i shall not post it here, it is so famous that you can find out about the Orthodox Cathedral and Mosque easily on the web. It was icy cold due to raining for a whole day and long flight hours, so we were quite tired on the first day.

After lunch at a small restaurant beside the Marmara Sea, We then hopped to our bus and headed to Canakkale by crossing Marmara Sea from Europe to Asia via Golden Horn. We napped on the bus and sleepy Porky was salivating profusely when taking his nap. We reached Iris Hotel along Aegean Sea after about 4 hours ride, the hotel is nice and decent, right in front you can see blue and peaceful Aegean Sea. i was planning to catch the sun rise the next morning but due to heavy rain again we could not do so.

The Blue Mosque

Hagia Sofia

Hagia Sofia interior with Byzantine wall paintings

View of Marmara Sea from a restaurant

Crossing Golden Horn by a Ferry, what a nice view.