last bit of istanbul

on our last morning in istanbul, we visited suleymaniye mosque, and it turned out to be our favourite of all the mosques we saw in turkey. it stands high on a hill overlooking the city and it is so huge and majestic.

 
^^ love, love the courtyard and the entryway. such beautiful symmetry and details. ^^
 
^^ and love, love those striped arches. ^^
 
^^ there is also a gorgeous burial ground sprinkles with bright purple irises on the grounds outside the mosque. ^^

we had our last turkish meal on the top floor of a restaurant overlooking the blue mosque and the hagia sophia. we sat right by the open window and thoroughly enjoyed.

before we left istanbul, we went to church! it felt soooo good to be there, having missed formal church meetings during our time in china and nepal (we still tried to retain sabbath observance and had some “church meetings” together with just the two of us, but it’s certainly not quite the same as being in church!). in istanbul, we met in this little building on the outskirts of the city with other members of our church, and the meetings were translated from turkish to english or vis versa depending on who was speaking. we were so impressed with the faith of the members we met in istanbul and we had a fantastic time worshipping with them before we headed to the airport. we did so many neat things on our trip around the world, but i really think my very most favourite thing was attending church in different places.

and then we were off to south africa!