Visiting Istanbul

One of my first stops in Istanbul was the famous Hagia Sophia. The first church built on these grounds dates back nearly 1,700 years. The first two churches were destroyed, while the third and current structure was completed in 537 and served as a church for nearly 1,000 years. After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque. It later became a museum in 1935 before being converted back into a mosque in 2020. One of the most interesting things about visiting Hagia Sophia is seeing elements of its Christian and Islamic history together inside the same enormous building.

Inside Hagia Sophia you can see enormous Islamic calligraphy alongside surviving Christian mosaics from its Byzantine past. One of the most famous is the Deesis Mosaic, created during the 13th century.

Another famous landmark nearby is the Blue Mosque, officially known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. Built in the early 1600s, its domes and minarets dominate this historic part of Istanbul. Unlike Hagia Sophia during the time of my visit, the Blue Mosque was an active mosque, and inside I was able to see both its elaborate architecture and people gathering for prayer.

One thing that quickly became obvious about Istanbul was just how packed with tourists it could be. Of course, it’s touristy for a reason. With so much history and so many things to see, it’s no wonder Istanbul is one of the world’s major travel destinations. Near the Blue Mosque I came across the ancient Egyptian Obelisk of Theodosius, which seemed to be a gathering point for large tour groups like the one above.

Istanbul is truly one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever visited. After just coming back from Iran, I didn’t feel like going to every tourist site in the city, but I did a lot of walking. On this particular day I must have walked around 10 miles and had the sunburn to prove it. These photos show some of the older parts of Istanbul along with a view toward the water.

The surrounding photos show some typical scenes from Istanbul. On the left is a man smoking hookah, while the other photo shows part of Istanbul’s European side. One of the things that makes the city so interesting is how quickly the atmosphere can change between historic neighborhoods, traditional bazaars, and much more modern commercial areas.

I noticed a huge amount of construction throughout Istanbul during my visit. It was another reminder of how enormous and rapidly changing the city was. Turkish flags were also everywhere, often hanging prominently from buildings throughout the city.

Istanbul is an incredibly populated and congested place. When I first arrived, I took a very packed tram from the airport into the city. It was difficult to even take a photo because so many people were crowded around me. Later I decided to rent my own car and try my luck on the streets. Traffic wasn’t any better, and the man above seemed confident that cars would be moving slowly enough for him to sell items directly from the highway guardrail.

Driving Toward Bulgaria

Since I had just come back from Iran and wasn’t feeling particularly touristy, I thought it might be a good idea to rent a car and drive toward Bulgaria. The border was only a couple of hours away, and I imagined driving north along the coast, stopping at beaches, small towns, and perhaps a national park. Mostly, I just wanted to get out of the big city for a while.

I rented a car but then discovered that I couldn’t take that particular rental across the Bulgarian border. I had rented cars and driven across international borders several times before, so I hadn’t even considered that this might be a problem. Instead, I continued north through the European side of Turkey, passing small farms and towns along the way.

I didn’t feel like driving all the way back to Istanbul after my failed attempt to reach Bulgaria, so I stayed in Kırklareli for the night. Along the way I also noticed signs referring to Bulgaria as “Bulgaristan.” At the time that sounded strange to me because I associated country names ending in “-stan” mostly with Central Asia.