Day 13

Istanbul by foot

9 am start – first stop: the Blue Mosque. We take our shoes off and carry them around in the provided plastic bags. The girls have to cover their shoulders and hair with scarfs handed out by the Turks.

10 am – second stop: the Basilica Cistern. We go underground and wander through an enormous roman water storage facility. There are plenty of fish in the water, the columns are lit from beneath and arabic-classical music is played for the real sight seeing experience.

10: 45 am – third stop: the Grand Bazar. A maze of covered walk ways lined with shops, from leather products to gold jewellery, to sweets, to carpets, to fake designer bags, to back gammon boards,……. swallows us.

12 am – lunch break. Aerliah and I enjoy a flower tea in a quite side street where the Turkish men come to have a water pipe and a cay.

1 pm – fourth stop: the Spice Market. On the way there we get into the real Istanbul with the street being inundated by Turkish families on the hunt for clothing and special bargains.

2:15 pm - fifth stop: Istanbul Harbour. We meet again at the harbour entry to the market near the Yeni Mosque and walk over to the busy water front. I grab a fish burger freshly cooked on a boat and Robin follows but is not impressed at all. Well

3 pm - sixth stop: Car ferry across the Bosporus to Asia. We catch the car ferry for 1 $ each to enjoy the views. We do not get off, just return with the same boat back to Europe.

4 pm - seventh stop: Sultan’s Palace. We walk up the hill and cross through the garden of the Sultan to get the Hagia Sophia and back to the hostel.

Let the photos tell you a thousand and one word...