A little note on Istanbul: Trails of Civilization #Blue Mosque...

Istanbul, Istanbul, Istanbul...

Rasanya, kota yang satu ini memang tidak ada matinya...paling tidak, saya merasa ketagihan untuk datang dan datang lagi ke kota cantik ini...

Istanbul selalu digaungkan sebagai perpaduan harmonis antara Barat dan Timur, Asia dan Eropa...
Karena memang Istanbul memiliki sisi Eropa dan sisi Asia..

Kedua sisi ini memiliki keunikan dan daya tarik tersendiri....tidak heran kalau kota terbesar di Turki ini tidak pernah sepi dari pengunjung, termasuk kami :D...

Apalagi setelah browsing sana sini...tambah ngiler melihat kecantikan peninggalan arsitektur zaman Byzantium dan Ottoman yang memang luar biasa...yang buat panik adalah begituuuu banyak yang ingin dilihat, sementara waktu dan energi terbatas hiks... 


Blue Mosque, salah satu landmark kebanggaan Istanbul....



Kali pertama kami berkunjung ke Istanbul, it was meant to be a 9-hour transit :D ...Tujuan akhir kami saat itu adalah Mesir :D...

But again we enjoyed every part of this beautiful city... 

Together with Bo, who was extremely cooperative amidts long list of itinerary and cold weather, we stopped in Istanbul, city of civiizations...as it claims...

Indeed, magnificent remains of the past adorn the city which boosts to be the bridge between the East and the West..

Well, as 9-hour transit flew that fast, we planned our trip carefully, so as to ensure we've got a chance to see all the landmarks..

Seperti turis kebanyakan, kami pun langsung menuju pusat keramaian..

Apalagi kalau bukan Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia...

After a convenient trip from the airport, we chose to browse around the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya Museum...

Stop at Sultan Ahmet, off we went out of the cozy tram and headed to Blue Mosque...Easy traveling from the airport really helped us out as well :D>. 20 minutes by train plus 20 minutes by tram et voilaaa...we're in the city...Just make sure you have Turkish Lira, get enough token for traveling with the train and tram. If I'm not mistaken, we need 1 token for train, 1 for tram one way from Airport to Sultanahmet.


As we arrived at 3 pm on a bright-20-degree-C day, it really was nice to stroll around the Sultanahmet area...but getting inside the Mosque and the Museum was a bit too late, the line was tooooo looong already... 



crowded already indeed...


Sultan Ahmet Mosque, atau dikenal sebagai Blue Mosque, memang sarat dengan sejarah...

Dibangun sejak tahun, desain Masjid ini memang luar biasa cantiknya. Saya suka sekali dengan kubah utama yang unik dan minaret yang begitu banyak. Apalagi minaret-minaret tersebut berbentuk unik, seperti pensil runcing. Terus terang, jarang-jarang saya melihat bentuk yang cantik seperti ini :D...sampai kami tiba di Kairo nantinya :p...



Blue Mosque....


Despite the long line, we managed to get in and see the beauty of it..

Speechless...

Saat masuk ke kompleks Masjid, kesan megah langsung tertangkap...langsung ingat akan kebesaran Allah SWT dan keagungan yang dipancarkan dari karya terbaik hamba-Nya. Entah hanya perasaan saya saja, tapi kok sepertinya sholat lebih khusuk di sini...mungkin karena perasaan overwhelming tadi...


The minaret...

Everybody loves fountain....
the door...

amazing details from the Blue Mosque...
from dusk till dawn....just luv the composition....

Selesai menikmati Blue Mosque (walaupun belum puas, hiks....), we continued our visit to another beautiful landmark...

Next, Hagia Sofia...

Hagia Sofia is indeed an amazing architecture, serving 916 years as church and 481 as mosque, now serves as the museum...

Again, it was a looong line already, so we couldn't get inside on our first visit..later, when I came back in 2012, I managed to devour every single details inside Hagia Sofia (I will share it later :D>...)

But then, we were soooo lucky that there was an exhibition on 1001 inventions (more like science and history) in front of Hagia Sofia. They offered 'an experience of a lifetime' by taking a turkish traditional tour on a crane (yes..a crane) and enjoy a bird eye's view of Hagia Sofia...

It was a-25-TL ticket to climb up a specially designed crane to see Istanbul from 25-m above while enjoying some traditional food and drink (plus souvenir too :D)...

And Udi, my hubby jumped into it, raised high above, enjoyed turkish coffee and cookies and took great pictures of Hagia Sofia...


Beautifully lit by nature..Hagia Sofia, seen from waaay above....



still on Hagia Sofia...

Not only Hagia Sofia...tapi juga kota Istanbul dan Laut Marmara..
Cantik...breathtaking view indeed...


One side of Istanbul...seen from above... 

One busy corner...with Marmara Sea as the background....



It took a while for us to study the map while stopping here and there making pictures...and Bo, who just woke up from a short nap on the plane, was not in his fully-cooperative attitude :D..ooow ooow...kita pun harus menyesuaikan acara keliling-keliling ini dengan abang Bo :D...


Well, we just managed to see that in our first trip..but I will explore and share more on the next chapter...


Stick around :D>..

21 comments:

  1. Fotonya yang langitnya merah ituuu... deuh, dramatiisss

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    Replies
    1. hahaha...iyaaa...itu pas menjelang maghrib ambilnya...luve the changing color...dari merah, orange, hingga ungu dan biru tua gelap :D...

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    2. kapaan aku bisa ke istanbul.. hikhik..

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  2. wow...kapan ya aku juga bisa ke istanbul.....
    btw-aku lagi bikin lomba GA, dicari 32 orang blogger yang suka nulis dan corat coret untuk jadi pemenang dan mendapat hadiah guft menarik dari Makassar, Toraja dan Martapura Kalimantan Selatan…salam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nanti insya allah sampai juga mas :D...iyaaa, aku dah liat di blogmu...mantaaap....lagi mikir dan ingat2 cerita yang senada dengan tema...moga2 bisa partisipasi yaaa,,,,sukses maaaas

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  3. salam kenal mbak....

    istambul, jd inget sinetron kupinang kau dengan bismillah :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. salam kenal jugaaa...hahaha...aku malah ngg tau ada sinetronnya :D...pasti keren dengan background kota cantik ini...

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  4. Replies
    1. iya maaak...memang bener-bener cantik...di next post, aku masukkan details si Masjid...wait until I post Topkapi Palace...drop-dead amazing :D...

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  5. keren bgt ya mb...
    suka blue mosque...cantiikk... :)

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    Replies
    1. betuuul maaaak....Blue Mosque memang mantaaaap...cantik banget, termasuk bagian dalamnya...

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  6. beuuuu pengen juga kesana padahal deket dr aku ya.. bismillahdeh segera diniatkan

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    1. ayooo maaaak...paling cuma short flight kan ke sini hehehehe....kudu diniatin, insya allah ngga rugi dan banyaaak sekali peninggalan Islam yang luaaar biasa...moga2 bisa segera tercapaaai :D...

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  7. uwaaaa,,kerennnnnn..mupeng^^
    salam kenal

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mak hannaaaa...ayoo ayooo....diniatkeuun biar sampai main ke sini yaaah :D...thanks udah mampir...

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  8. walaupun bangunan2nya kuno tapi terlihat bagus mbak

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    1. Itu diaaa mama Cal-Vin..perasaaanku...makin kuno makin kereeeen :D...makanya suka sebeeel kalau ada bangunan kuno ngg dirawat model di negeri kita tercinta hiks...

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  9. Replies
    1. Makasih Mak Uwien Budi...objeknya yang cantiiiik banget...

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  10. Beautiful. Maybe someday I'll get to that part of the world to see it in person!

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