I landed in Istanbul Sunday afternoon around 2:45 and had a driver take me directly to the Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) where I meet my family (mother, father, sister, and brother), who had already been in Turkey for three days. The Ayasofya was built during the Byzantine Empire to be a basilica but during the Ottoman Empire it was converted into a mosque. The inside is magnificent and is covered from floor to ceiling in detailed patterned tile and mosaics.