Saturday
Dear Elsie
Today we woke to the most amazing sounds. Chirping, quacking, clucking and wailing, there was a menagerie of birds and cats in the neighbourhood. It was also the day it poured with rain in Istanbul, so we stayed in for most of the day. We did venture out in the morning with the intention of going to see how long the queue was at the Blue Mosque. It’s an iconic landmark in the old town of Istanbul and highly recommended to see. The queue, snaked, in steady rain, around the entire establishment so we decided to pass and take refuge in the hotel for most of the day. I watched some You Tube and at about 3pm went down to the lounge for some hot chocolate. Julian was already there with a new friend….
The friend had no loyalty.
We decided to head on out into the drizzle to see if the queue at the Mosque had improved. It had indeed, so we got in line took our shoes off and made our way inside. This is the queue from the entry portico…
The ceilings are vast as are the pillars holding them up.
From the outside courtyard…
The Mosque & Istanbul have featured in a number of James Bond Movies. From Russia with Love (1963), the World is not Enough (1999) and Skyfall (2012). We left the mosque and wandered through the Grand Bazaar where we bought a couple of souvenirs, surprisingly at a better price than outside the precinct. By the time we got out of the bazaar, it had stopped raining and for a brief period there was also a tiny bit of sunshine.
Back at the hotel, I’m putting this together before we go out for a bite. A less busy day in the city due to the rain, but we were glad to see inside the mosque while in Istanbul.
Acts 17:24-25
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything. Rather, He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
It’s not about now – we are only passing through.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Gran xx 🙂