Hagia Sophia (Istanbul)

One of my favorite sites was Hagia Sophia. It was built as a Christian Church, later converted into a Mosque and is currently a museum.

The dome was not constructed correctly so you can see how it is not longer perfectly circular.

Grand Bazaar & Spice Market (Istanbul)

If you go to Istanbul you have to go to the Grand Bazaar! What a place with over 4,000 shops.

It is a maze of shops and very easy to get lost.

We also went to the Spice Market and stocked up on spices.

We had our picture taken with the spice shop owner who we bought spices from. He is wonderful and explained all the spices to us and let us try samples of the product.

Turkish Delight. I tried it but didn't like it.

I fell in love with all the lanterns!! They were everywhere and I couldn't stop taking photos of them. Here are a few of my favorites.

We did some damage in this shop buying lanterns & bowls. Had to have a photo with the shop worker who helped us.

Basilica Cistern (Istanbul)

The Basilica Cistern is the largest underground storage for water in Istanbul. It is not longer active and is now just a museum.

500 feet below the ground.

There are two Medusa heads in the Cistern. The workers this one sideways to prevent it from turning anyone who looked at it to stone.

They turned this one upside down to negate the powers of Medusa's gaze.