CHAPTER 17
Well, I still have about 100,000 photos of Hadley to post, but all in due time. In the meanwhile, back to the Aegean Expedition, where we just left the torture chambers of the Cappadocia Hamam behind, and after a quick flight, a short bus ride between continents, and a long walk in the dark through predictably dicey streets looking for our apartment, we find ourselves smack in the middle of Taksim Square, the epicenter of Istanbul’s riots. We almost changed our itinerary to skip Istanbul and avoid the unrest, but, thankfully decided to take our chances. As is the case most of the time, the media portrayal of the situation was a little embellished from what was really going on, and though there were riot police stationed in the square, the atmosphere was anything but tense.
We were only going to be in Istanbul for two days, so we hit the ground running- first stop: the legendary Hagia Sophia. A Christian church built in the 537, converted to a mosque in 1453, and made a museum in 1935- it’s a testament to the engineers of the past that it is still standing. A little worn around the edges to be sure, but considering all the history its seen, it is definitely one of the most amazing buildings I’ve ever been in.
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