Istanbul: Day 7

As we gathered in the sixth floor dining area for breakfast pilgrims were wishing the gentlemen "Happy Fathers' Day" to start our Sunday.  The main adventure for the day began with our happy guide, Omer - pronounced Omar - guiding us on foot first to the Hippodrome - the site of ancient sporting events like horse and chariot racing and now a central plaza. It has various monuments including a massive Egyptian obelisk.

We are on our way to visit the Blue Mosque and after queuing for a short time we remove our shoes and enter the brightly lit, red carpeted worship space. Omer has much to tell us about the Moslem faith and the architecture of this renowned sacred building.

A short walk across another plaza is the church of St Sophia sometimes called "Hagia Sophia". Today it is neither used as church or mosque althought it has been both down through history but a museum. Again Omer has much to tell us about its history. It is an impressive building and with a lot more character than the Mosque. Of interest some very old Christian mosaics and frescoes remain here.

Ruth Flett, Jenny & Jim Mitchell in the Hagia Sophia

We had lunch in the centre of the very busy tourist area of Istanbul - some of us enjoying the quiet  shade of a lovely park close by. Then Omer was waving his hat and offering his shrill whistle to get us together and head for the underground cistern. This was a huge surprise to most of us and given the heat of the day it was a welcoming, cool place to explore. This is an ancient underground water storage area that today has a small amount of water in it with lots of carp and gold fish. The original cistern was vast but just one of many under this historic city.

We were able to return to the hotel  and for some of us a swim in the hotel pool  before the Eucharist which was led by Fr Ron. This had a special focus on the ANZACs, those who have made the supreme sacrifice for our freedom.  Ron told a great little modern parable and connected those thoughts with the New Guinea martyrs.   Then it was on to dinner.