İstanbul - Gün 2

An amazing view of the clouds over the Bosphorous


Istanbul cityscape

So, today I visited the Blue Mosque. The interior was really beautiful. I would have photos, but I feel sacriligious taking photos of operating mosques. It's disgusting when tourists take photos of people praying (without permission). It shows no respect for other people, and it's seriously annoying. Tourists! (It's good to be a backpacker/student traveller).


Also, I saw the Basilica Cistern. This place was the main water source for Istanbul for awhile, and it's really quite beautiful. It's basically a large, underground open area with lots of columns to hold it up. The columns have been taken from various old temples, so many are mismatched (or two even have Medusa heads at the bottom). They've dimly lit up many of the columns, and water is leaking from the ceiling- making it seem to drizzle. Fish swim around in the foot-deep water, hovering around the lamposts. We had to compete with a group of Turkish school children to see the sites.


Aftwerwards, we headed to the Hippodrome, and saw the two obelisks there. You can see the older one above. The other was sort of basic looking- its iron sides had been ripped off, leaving the stone bricks uncovered.


A typical Ataturk statue found in Taksim Square
Later we headed to Taksim Square (at the end of Istiklal Caddesi), to meet up with the rest of the exchange students. We found a bus, and headed to a Türkiye-Almanya (Turkey-Germany) Futbol Match.

At the gates, they confiscated all lighters, many people's coins, checked purses, padded people down, threw tickets to the ground (no assigned seating), and they took the top off my unopened water bottle. At the end, I emerged with my purse clutched to be chest, all its belongings in my hands, and an open bottled water.

The game was a uneventful half-attended game, but that was okay. Turkey won 2-1. We got to cheer along with the Turkish fans, and we could understand them, most of the time. This really is a singing-culture.


Above you see the aftermath of a fan waving a flare in the air. Ah, police and security guards.


I spotted this Engrish sweatshirt from my seat: "The Bigger Player: Choice Your Game".