Istanbul Scrapbook: Day 3

Welcome to the third installment of the Istanbul scrapbook! Perhaps I shall finish it sometime this year. It’s good to not be rushed, though. On to the trip: thankfully, by day three we were a bit more caught up on sleep and ready to do some exploring.

Without a doubt, the best part of the day was seeing the incredible Hagia Sofia. The openness, the light, the history that made up every worn stone: they left me speechless.

And these pretty simit carts kept us company while we were waiting in the long line. Eric had repeatedly said how much he misses these stands–they are just so convenient! And simits are so undeniably delicious.

Such beautiful tickets. I don’t know if you can tell, but parts of it are iridescent.

Here’s the journaling for this page and a girl who is so happy that the park in this major tourist area is so lovely and calm.

I love this picture of us so much because it is one of the few that we have together. We both hardly ever put our cameras down the entire trip, and maybe that’s why we don’t have many shots together! In any case, I am grateful for Eric’s long arms and for the foresight to take a picture together here, a wonder and a place that moved us both so deeply.

The next page contains our continuing adventures and some of my favorite rub-on embellishments.

These amazing mosaics were on the higher floor of the Hagia Sophia. So crazy to look at them and think about the hands that made them and the hands that tended them over all these centuries.

We had lunch just around the corner. We lucked into finding a courtyard cafe in what was an artisans’ workshop in past ages. It was great to sit and rest and sip tea.

Love this picture of Eric on the grounds.

And, of course, our beloved Istanbulkart had to be preserved here. Every day we walked down the hill past the bread bakery to Tophane, where we waited for our train. A few times we went the other way down, to the water, and got on there for the gentle glide over the Golden Horn. I wanted to keep my card so much that Eric suggested we just get individual-ride cards for our last few rides. And that, ladies, is when you know you have the best husband on earth.