The Blue Mosque

The Blue mosque or Sultanahmet Camii is one of the most visible sites in old Istanbul.  It is also the most visited.  We got there early in the morning because we had observed over the previous days that that was when the line was short.  Little did we know how much the line would around inside the complex.  But the architecture even on the outside is spectacular, so it wasn't the worst wait ever

As it is a working mosque, there are dress restrictions.  There were signs everywhere but it was amazing how many people were still flabbergasted when they got turned away at the door for their shorts or uncovered hair.  

The inside was seriously spectacular

You can't really get a sense of scale from these pictures, but I mostly stood in the same spot and turned

One of six minarets

A pretty courtyard

It was one of my favorite places in Istanbul, which is good because the line was soon long.  oh, and I forgot, they were also doing construction and had metal covered walkways for us.  But cutting metal creates sparks and they rained down on us for about 20 minutes of the 2 hour line.  yikes!