On our way home to New York we had a 22 hour layover (our flight was delayed) in Istanbul, again. This time around we chose to venture into the city by ourselves. We put our carryon baggage in Baggage check (total of 60 lira for 3 bags). We bought coins for the train system and talked to the friendly in the tourist booth. In no time we had a whole day trip planned out. This time around we would visit the Hagia Sophia, go through the Topkapi Palace throughly, and take a ferry ride to Asia. 

The Hagia Sophia is a church turned mosque turned museum. It's history can be seen just from the architecture, the western flying buttresses and Islamic spirals. 

It was 30 lira to enter the museum. They take cash but not all credit cards. I believe that MasterCards do not work.

The Hagia Sophia was undergoing preservation work when we went. I'm not sure if they were preserving the paint or trying to reveal what was underneath it. I noticed that many of the Christian elements of the building were covered/painted over. This probably happened during the time of the Muslim conquerers. 

The gerougeous gaslight chandeliers were almost touchable. It's probably breathtaking at night.

The pictures below were taken from the second floor balcony. Beware: the walk upstairs is steep and long. There are no stairs, only a winding ramp.

The curving arches were probably once vibrant. It's actually still easy to see the detailed artwork on a few of them.

I couldn't photograph the exhibits I saw in the Topkapi Palace, but needless to say the artifacts (furniture, jewelry, weaponry, etc.) were breathtaking. I can't imagine the opulence that some of the emperors lived in. 

We were too burned out from traveling through Bangladesh and India so we skipped the ferry ride, however you could have easily done the trip. Instead we chose to wander the Grand Bazar (which closes at 5pm!!) and the Spice Bazar. You can walk to the Grand bazar or take the train there (it is clearly stated in the map). The spice bazar is conveniently located near the underground cistern. 

You pass a lot of restaurants with traditional themes. Like in the picture below, there are women rolling out dough using traditional methods. 

If you're hungry after your tours there are many street vendors, but I recommend trying a restaurant. If you're going to travel you might as well try to submerge yourself in as much of the culture as possible. You should definitely try out the more traditional restaurants (the ones where you sit on cousins around a round table).

I hope that my blog posts (there are 2 other ones) about my trip were helpful. If you have any questions feel free to comment or email me :)