I took this photo with my flash so you can see how big it is (this is just part of it), but when you’re down there it’s all dark and glowy. When we first started down the steps the damp underground smell and the darkness felt just like we were entering Pirates of the Caribbean ride and I half expected Johnny Depp to pop out of the darkness and start whispering “Dead men tell no tales” at me.
Calvin looks like he’s about to embark on a thrill ride, but nothing down here is scary.
There were tons of fish swimming in the shallow water. They all huddled under the lights like they were waiting for a feeding.
I didn’t know how tall the pillars were, but I was going to guess about 30 feet. Out of curiosity I ran it by my fact checker (google) and my guess was right on. The water used to go most of the way to the top, but now it’s shallow, probably only knee or hip depth.
Another historic sight that Camille slept through. Don’t worry baby girl. We’ll be happy to come back in 10 years and do it all over again with you.
When you first enter the cistern they have a tourist trap photo booth set up where you dress up like a sultan or one of the harem and have a souvenir photo taken. Nana pulled out her “I’m an old lady and this is the only time I’m going to be in Istanbul with you grandchildren card” and roped them into doing it. You aren’t allowed to take your own photos so this is the best I could get of the boys in costume. The professional photo turned out really great. Unfortunately there was only room for five people in the photo, so Josh and I had to sit out. Still crying over that one . . .
The head of Medusa. No one knows why it was placed upside down. Really. Not even all-knowing wikipedia. The head sculptures are older than the cistern itself and were brought in from somewhere else. I have no idea why you’d want something decorative and ornate at the bottom of a receptacle for holding water, but whatever.
So this pillar has a hole in it and it’s famous because if you stick your thumb in it and rotate your hand and your thumb comes out wet, then your wish is supposed to come true. I know it sounds weird, but I’m not making it up. I think it’s some practical joke that a bored Ottoman came up with way back when — their version of the email promising that Bill Gates will pay you if you forward it to all of your friends to help them track how many people are using the internet. (Oh, you didn’t get your check yet? My sister did. I’m sure yours is in the mail . . . )
Anyway, everyone was buying it and standing in line to have a chance at molesting the pillar. All I could think of was how many people had stuck their thumb into that hole and how many nasty germs were being spread between tourists. Icky. Icky. I guess it has something to do with the type of stone that this particular pillar is made out of so it absorbs water and the hole is always wet or something gross like that.
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| this lady spent a full 30 seconds making sure her wish came true |
