The Blue Mosque was built between 1609-1617. It is a blend of Byzantium and Ottoman-style architecture influenced by the Hagia Sophia with a central dome, surrounded by four semi-domes and flanked by six minarets. It is adorned with over 21,000 blue tiles, hence the Blue Mosque. Considered one of the most sacred places on earth, it still functions as a mosque today. It is big with a capacity of 10,000.

Hagia Sophia (532-537) was initially built as a church and remained the largest cathedral for almost 1000 years until the Seville Cathedral was completed in 1507. Following the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, when the Ottomans captured Constantinople, Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque. This transformation involved removing bells and altars and concealing images of Jesus, Mary, and the saints and angels. Large wooden black discs with Arabic calligraphy were place

Contemporary Japan has its own unique aesthetics and architecture; this was the focus of our last tour in Tokyo with Context. Our guide was Jay, who holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Tokyo and is an ex-pat from the US. Before settling in Japan 25 years ago, Jay spent time in Syria, Russia, and the UK. The quality of the Context guides continues to impress me. We met up with Jay in the Harajuku district , famous for its cutting-edge fashion retai

A ferry transported us to the small island of Naoshima, which has become a hub for contemporary art and architecture. The Benesse Art Site was established through the collaboration of an industrialist and a mayor, aiming to highlight this small island in the Seto Inland Sea by developing a venue where contemporary art and a beachfront hotel merge, allowing guests to experience staying in a museum. On our Nat Geo trip, this hotel stood out as the best in terms of design and

We then traveled to Tokyo via bullet train for the final four days of our Intro to Asia tour. We checked into The Okura Tokyo , a stunning hotel rebuilt in 2019, situated across from the US Embassy. After experiencing subpar accommodations (in my opinion) with National Geographic, we finally enjoyed a lovely, spacious, and elegant corner room on the 29th floor with a view of Tokyo. I was quite satisfied and didn't feel the need to request a third room, as I sometimes do. In

We arrived in Kyoto from Singapore a day before the National Geographic Inside Japan tour to acclimate and explore on our own. Before discussing Kyoto, I must mention the ordeal of getting through Osaka Airport. Our Singapore Airlines flight was excellent as usual, but the immigration process in Osaka was chaotic. We spent two hours in a line moving at a snail's pace, seemingly due to more visitors than available officers. There is a “ Visit Japan Web QR code ” we could hav