Turkish Delight

Hi bloggies this is Jackson!

On our first day (Feb. 17) we were just going to walk around when we met a man that offered to take us to some places. His name is Salam. The first place he took us across the Galata Bridge. The bridge was lined with fisherman catching small fish. Then he took us to the Galata tower. It was really high up. I could see Asia! Really! After that he took us to the Suleman mosque. (A mosque is where Muslims pray). And last he took us for a small walk through the Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar.  

View of Asia side of Istanbul from Galata Tower (Really!)

The next day Salam took to the Chora museum. The museum had great mosaics! One looked real! After that we went to the Basilica cisterns. The cistern was really cool. It had lots of columns. It had a column called the weeping column. It was called the weeping column because it had lots of tear-shaped eyes and is always wet. Then near the back they had to columns with medusa heads on them! One was sideways and the other was upside down. Then we went to Salam’s Uncle's carpet shop and bought a carpet.  

Weeping Column in Basilica Cisterns

Jackson with Medusa Head at Basilica Cisterns, Istanbul

Basilica Cisterns, Istanbul

And last but definitely not least Auntie Lynn and Uncle Graham arrived!

On the next day we firs went to the Hagia Sophia. It had a bunch of really good mosaics. Then we went to the Blue mosque. It was filled with blue tiles.

Mosaic of Jesus at the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Blue Mosque at dusk - beautiful!

The next day we went to Topkapi Palace. Topkapi Palace was ruled by many Sultans in the Ottoman Empire for about 400 years. Each Sultan had a harem. A harem is where the Sultans gets many, many girlfriends to live with him in a separate part of Topkapi Palace. The servants of the harem were Eunuchs.

Uncle Graham & Jackson at Topkopi Palace,  Istanbul

Daddy, Auntie Lynn, Savannah & Jackson at Topkopi Palace

The next day we went to the Archeological museum.  My favorite part was the brick lion on the wall. At the end Savannah and I went into a mini Trojan horse. And then we left.

Savannah, Auntie Lynn & Jackson at Archeological Museum, Istanbul

Savannah & Jackson in trojan horse

ther interesting things I saw: in the Bazaar I saw a cat sleeping in the window of a Jewelry store. We saw some really pretty lamps too.  A popular candy in Turkey is Turkish delight. I tried several kinds of Turkish delight but I didn’t really like it.

Cat burglar?



Lights for sale in Grand Bazaar (photo by Jackson!)



Turkish delight - Yuck!

The best part of the entire week was being with Auntie Lynn and Uncle Graham. It was great to spend time with them because I missed them a lot and they are always fun to hang around.  We left on February 24 to go to Hong Kong....



Auntie Lynn, Uncle Graham, Savannah & Jackson in Istanbul