We left the Chora Church, and I for one was completely stunned and impressed by the quality and quantity of work. We decided to walk through an older neighborhood featured in one of Barbara Nadal's books.
Balat is an old Jewish/Orthodox neighborhood, and is a little gritty. The homes have been slapped up against one another with little regard for building codes or earthquake safety. If/when the big one hits, most of these homes will be in shambles (as if most of them already weren't).
We walked about a half a mile to the edge of the Theodosian walls, erected in 532 to protect Constantinople. The walls were only breached twice, one by the Crusaders and a second time by the Ottomans.
The walls are impossible to miss, a 50' mass of red and white brick. We happened to find the edge of the Palace of the Porphrygenitos, an abandoned Byzantine building dating to the 13th Century. We happened upon a grassy knoll and spotted a large Turkish Flag proudly hailing in the distance beyond the Walls. Maggie decided to take a peek at it and attempted to climb through a metal fence. That is when I heard something akin to a hammer hitting a melon.
I looked at Maggie and she was stunned, leaning forward, not speaking. Blood started to come out of her nose and I realized that she had hit her face on the metal raining - hard. She sat down, collected her wits, realized that her teeth were still in her mouth, and assessed the situation. She never saw a metal bar, hit her nose, lip, and teeth on it at full speed.
I ran to a local shop and picked up some cold drinks to ice the swelling. Her lip started to flare with pain, but her nose wasn't broken. We sat for a while, allowing Maggie to calm down and relax before heading towards the river and further disappointments and a minor catastropee (intended spelling).
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