Istanbul (Day 5) ... Feb 1, 2009

The last day of our trip we took the tram across the river (not sure what we were thinking when we thought we would take a Ferry) and then HIKED up the tallest hill to visit the Pera Palace (and not sure what we were thinking hiking there versus just taking a taxi!). This is a hotel built in the late 1800's to lodge the passengers of the "Orient Express" (the train route from Paris to Istanbul) and was considered the most posh hotel of its time. A number of famous guest have stayed at this hotel including Mustafa Ataturk (the "Father of Turkey" and its first president), Emperor Franz Josef, Czar Nicholas II of Russia, and King George V of England. Also, Agatha Christie wrote "Murder on the Orient Express" from room 411, which is now preserved in her honor. All of this we were excited to enjoy, until after our long hike we realized we were having another Bolshoi Ballet experience. The entire hotel was covered in scaffolding and was closed for a complete remodeling (like when we were in Moscow and had the same experience trying to visit the Bolshoi Theater). We just stared at it for a few minutes, as that was the best we could do. Obviously the picture of room 411 is not ours, but I have added as this is what I really wanted to see!
We got in a taxi from there (we were not going to hike back!) that took us to the Kariye Museum (Chora Church), located on the Western side of Istanbul. This is a Byzantine church built in the 5th century that was converted to a mosque by the Ottomans in the 16th century, and then made into a museum in 1948. It is a relatively small church but adorned with beautiful mosaics and frescos that although plastered over when it was converted to a mosque (iconic images are forbidden in Islam), many have been restored.
We took a taxi back to our hotel where we finished packing up to head to the airport. Our trip back to the airport and our flight back to Budapest went relatively smoothly (although we got to the gate when I realized that all 5 of our seats were scattered across the plane. If we were 5 adults, this would have been fine, as it is only a 2 hour flight, but I am not sure what they were thinking putting a 4 year old and a 6 year old by themselves. Ultimately they put Whitney, Katie, and Ashley in first class and we made it back OK).
This was a fantastic trip to a FANTASTIC city. And we were extremely happy to have Whitney along with us!