Welcome to Istanbul

The cobblestones, the voice heard from the mosque, the sellers who intercept you on the streets, all of this is a feature of Istanbul. A city full of different people, full of interesting people, full of history, but also full of shops where you can buy anything and everything. Honestly, I didn't like this city, not as much as I expected. Maybe I was in the wrong part, or this city is just not for me. It's nice, you can see all kinds of things, but it didn't leave a strong impression on me. Maybe I expected too much.

The road to Istanbul was not easy at all, we traveled a lot. But our trip didn't end there, later we continued to Kusadasi, but that's a topic for the next post :D
In Istanbul, I really saw a lot of things for the first time. It was the first time I entered a mosque, the first time I experienced the mosque waking me up at 5 in the morning, the first time I saw such persistence in selling you something. It was really interesting, and I walked a lot, but again I was missing something, something that I can't say what it is because I don't know myself

On the way to the mosque, I passed by Sultan Ahmed Square, on this square there are the remains of the Hippodrome. At that time, this hippodrome was the center of social life, it could accommodate over 40 thousand people. That was not his only role, he was decorated with various works of art that were brought from all parts of the Byzantine Empire at that time.

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I reach the mosque. To the blue mosque. Of course, the first and basic rule is to take off your shoes and be dressed from head to toe. Unfortunately, I could not take pictures of the Blue Mosque from the outside because it is being renovated, it is all on scaffolding. The Blue Mosque is the first mosque I entered, and I will always remember it that way. It was the first time I stepped on such a fine carpet with my bare feet, the first time I saw how people pray and what it looks like inside. Yes, I visited a mosque in Albania, but this is a completely different experience, in my opinion. Everything seemed unusual, well unusual, I saw how much they respect their religion, it's not strange to me, I respect it.

One group photo from the mosque. This is how all women were supposed to look before entering. It was not so strict, because it was too warm, but the legs were not allowed to be seen and the headscarf was mandatory.

The mosque is beautiful inside, not at all similar to an Orthodox church. Not too ornate, but still enough to take your breath away. People kneeling and praying, their soft whispers to Allah could be heard.

Okay, I lied, I did take a photo of her from the outside, but not the way I wanted.

Here is the most interesting and most visited mosque, Hagia Sophia. I saw the line that was in front for the first time, we almost surrounded the entire mosque. The line went quickly, and of course the same rule applies to all mosques, dressed from head to toe. This mosque left a strong impression, it's beautiful inside, I have to make a separate post for it, it has an interesting history, and it looks interesting, it's a little different from the blue mosque.

Istanbul is beautiful and interesting, I recommend you to visit it, although it did not meet my expectations, most likely you will like it, and I am very demanding, because my family liked it.