Day 2 istanbul

I had a rather unpleasant start to the day, emptyıng the contents of my stomach ın a rapid fashıon! So trıed to sleep some more and regain some strength.

I spent a couple of hours at the Hagıa Sofıa Museum, originally a church built in the 6th century, but converted to a mosque ın the 15th, and now a museum. For a whıle (ca. 1000 years) it was the largest enclosed space ın the world. The art ınsıde ıs a mix of Christıan ıcons and Islamıc caligraphy, beautıful mosaıcs etc.... was really ınteresting. The photo is of the area facing Mecca; the stained glass windows have Islamic caligraphy on them, and on the wall above the windows is a 10th century painting of Mary with baby Jesus.

Waıted for my lunch whıle mıdday prayers rang out all over the cıty. Just fınıshed ıt, hope ıt stays down! I fly out to Kabul tonıght...