It is easy to be lost in the beautiful city of Istanbul with over 8000 years of history it’s minarets, palaces and 1500 year old churches and mosques built during the Roman Byzantine and Muslim Ottoman empire.

The city was host to 11 OXCEL Members who explored the cities main attractions, ie the Christian Hagia Sofia which is now a museum, the Blue Mosque, the Underground Byzantine Cisterns, the Grand Bazaar, the modern city center of Istanbul - Taksim Square and the backlanes of the Sultanahmet.

It was indeed an eye-opening experience with all the historical artifacts at Topkapi Palace Museum which included amongst golden thrones and diamond encrusted jewelry, Moses Staff used to part the Red Sea, John the Baptists Hand, Abraham’s Bowl, Joseph’s Headscarf and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) hair, swords and the Kaaba’s locks.