a photo a day

Day 1 in Istanbul! The Hagia Sophia ("Ayasofya" in Turkish) was amazing! It is 6th century Christian church that was later converted to a mosque and is now a museum. It was so cool (and odd) to see a mosaic of Jesus and Mary...and right next to it a huge calligraphied "Mohammed" written in Arabic.

Also, there was a cat inside. Because of course there was. Melissa gave him a scratch behind the ears. There are stray (but friendly and affectionate) cats and dogs everywhere in Turkey. I have loved on three cats and one dog since we arrived because, no, I haven't learned my lesson about touching animals I don't know. All my new cat and dog friends are sweethearts, though, so don't worry.