Today was my second and last day with Vedat, my Turkish guide. Vedat has been charming company. My day began with a visit to Haigha Sofia which was the highlight of my Istanbul visit. I won't bore you, dear reader, with details which you can look up. Suffice it to say that the building is 1,000 years older than St Peter's in Rome but nearly matches it in size and grandeur. Even after seeing it, I still can't understand how the dome stays up in that enormous space. The Pantheon in Rome is still my favorite building but this is almost a tie. The quality of mosaics that remain varies from exceptional from the 9th century to pedestrian in the 12th.
The early part of the afternoon was devoted to Topkapi Palace which interests me less than the Byzantine remains. Beautiful rooms, beautiful tiles, beautiful gardens, beautiful everything. But give me a good Byzantine ruin any day. I spent a short while (seemed longer) in the Grand Bazaar and then returned to the Hippodrome to look at the obelisk again; it made me homesick for Karnak from whence it came.
Tomorrow to the archaeological museum and more walking around before my evening flight to Tel Aviv.
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