Day 2: Around four o'clock this morning we heard our first Ramadan wake-up call. For those who prefer to sleep in, the first few days of a Ramadan trip may be supplemented with the ear plugs that come free with your Rick Steves' trip pack. I recommend listening to the wake-up call at least once, or you'll be missing out. During Ramadan, drums are skillfully played about an hour before dawn. This wakes those who celebrate Ramadan so they can eat before dawn. At dawn, the daily call to prayer is chanted over loud-speakers across the entire country by Imams. Muslims then forgo eating until sundown.

Right: View from the restaurant balcony of our hotel.

We enjoyed our first breakfast at the hotel. Subsequent breakfast meals were very similar to this one. All were a sort of buffet with veggies, dried fruit, olives, eggs, coffee, tea, breads, pastries, and jams. Occasionally, there were cereals and sausages too.

After breakfast, we walked to the Roman Cistern. The ancient cistern was dark, but lit austerely with modern mood lighting. This cistern was used for the entire city and made from columnar materials recycled from old Roman ruins. After several attacks, the cistern was forgotten. For centuries, locals always felt they were coincidentally lucky to have easy water well access.

After that, we walked to the Hagia Sofia (pronounced Ayasofia). This building was first built in the fourth century AD by Constantinople as a large Christian church. It is adorned with golden mosaics and stain glass windows. Later, the Ottomans conquered it and converted it to a mosque. The Ottomans loved the beautiful work and did not want to destroy it, so they covered the mosaics. The best of both were preserved, and it is now a museum.

Below Left: The Hagia Sofia.
Below Right: One of the many chandeliers inside the Hagia Sofia.

We visited the central town area, which used to be a hippodrome. Inside, we saw an Egyptian Obelisk from 1,500 BC and the Obelisk of Constantinople before visiting the Turkish and Islamic Arts museum. We took a quick break at the museum, where we were served Turkish apple tea and had a question and answer session.

Ryan and I stopped at a dessert shop that was decorated with oversized red chairs and dangling lanterns. We ate an interesting pudding like custard that had pomegranate, dried fruits, nuts, and garbanzo beans. It wasn't bad, but I think I'll stick to my chocolate pastries, thank you very much.

Later, we visited the Topkapi Palace, which was amazing! We received special passes to the harems, but the most spectacular rooms were the treasuries. I've never seen so many jewels in my life. The Topkapi dagger is the most famous piece, but I was more impressed with the chests full of rubies and emeralds and the 86 karat diamond.

Right: Topkapi Palace library.