Second Half of Day3- Carpet Shop & Blue Mosque - Istanbul, Turkey

After lunch we headed toward the Blue Mosque. Before we even went in I (Tom) was approached by a business man in front of the Blue Mosque. He told me and the girls that at the moment the Mosque was closed to non-Muslims for prayer. Michelle had not yet caught up with us and I fell hook, line, and sinker for this man's scam. What a sucker! He struck up a conversation with me and suggested that since we had some time on our hands he would like to show us a few points of interest in the surrounding area. He quickly began ushering us down the street as he shared random facts about the Mosque and and an Old Bazaar in the area. This gentlemen then took us upstairs to the balcony of his cousins store to supposedly show Michelle the perfect photo op of the Blue Mosque and city. As you can see from the photo neither was very true, this was basically all apart of the big scam to get us into a carpet store. Once in the store we were immediately offered coffee, tea, or a cold beverage to drink and asked if we could sit down for a little chat. For those of you planning to visit Istanbul let me share with you the way the scam typically works. First they will talk to you for about ten minutes, asking you about your trip and where you're from. Then, they will explain how the carpets are made. At this point, one of their assistants will start rolling out several carpets for you in a big showroom. They will then begin to engage you in the conversation, and ask which type of carpet interests you the most. Next, they will try to find one or two carpets in your specific type, style, and color you like the most. At some point they will then ask you how much you think they are worth. Then they will try to haggle over the price and reassure you that it's handmade and an investment that will last a lifetime. Sure, you could walk out of a carpet store without buying anything, but the carpet salesman will try to make it look like you are being rude to him. After all, you just had tea/coffee with him and had a nice conversation. How can you turn your back on your new best friend? But what this gentlemen didn't realize was who he were dealing with... "Tom the cheapskate"... So 2 hours later, after receiving a thorough instruction on various types of carpets, watching carpet upon carpet laboriously pulled off of huge stacks, consuming several cokes and teas, we finally walked out after I graciously said NO to buying a 9 ft by 7ft Turkish carpet selling for the low, low, price of 5,800 Euro (about 10,000 bucks). Boy I'm good! Not only did I get out of buying a expensive carpet for Michelle, but I also got about 20 euro's worth of free beverages for the family!

Carpets, Carpets, Carpets

The 5,900 euro carpet

View from carpet shop balcony
The Perfect Photo op of the Blue Mosque! or NOT!

After a good laugh at Tom's expense we finally made it to the Blue Mosque and it was absolutely beautiful. In the 17th century, Sultan Ahmet I, wished to build an Islamic place of worship to rival the Christian church Haigi Sofia. The Sultanahmet Mosque or Blue Mosque is just one of many mosques in Istanbul, but what makes it especially unique is the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior and its six minarets. Most other mosques have four, two or just one minaret. According to one account, the Sultan directed his architect to make gold (altin) minarets, which was misunderstood as six (alti) minarets. Whatever the origins of the unique feature, the six minarets caused quite a scandal, as the mosque in Mecca also had six minarets. The problem was solved by adding a seventh minaret to Mecca's mosque. The interior's high ceiling is lined with about 20,000 blue tiles that give the mosque its popular name. The tiles are fine examples of the 16th-century Iznik design, the tiles feature flowers, trees and abstract patterns.

Some Muslim women in the park

The Blue Mosque



Washing the feet

Front steps of the Blue Mosque


Inter courtyard of the Mosque

Hailey is getting ready to take her shoes of before going into the Mosque. This is common practice in all Mosques.

The have plastic bags for you to put your shoes in and carry them with you... unlike Thailand where you just leave your shoes in front of the temple.

Ceiling and Walls are full of beautiful hand painted blue and gold tiles

Iznik tiles in the mosque

Prayer Carpet

The Mosque looks pretty empty for a Friday- Muslim Holy Day

A man and his little boy saying their prayers on Friday

The Giles saying a little prayer for all the confused and lost souls...

Women only get to pray in the back of the Mosque

One of the six minarets of the Blue Mosque. Minarets are an architectural element that provide a visual cue demarcating a Muslim community center and territory, the call to prayer is traditionally given from the top of the minaret. In some of the oldest mosques, such as the Great Mosque of Demascus, minarets originally served as watchtowers illuminated by torches (hence the derivation of the word from the Arabic nur, meaning "light"). In more recent times, the main function of the minaret was to provide a vantage point from which the muezzin can call out the adhan, calling the faithful to prayer. Trust me we heard it loud and clear starting at 5:30 in the morning and continuing 5 times a day. We even had a speaker system in our bathroom so you wouldn't miss it while you were in the shower. Now that's dedication!