Day 3 & 4 - Istanbul

Saturday in Istanbul started out the same as Friday.  We had breakfast in the hotel and then met our tour guide for another long day of exploring the city.  We were grouped with 3 older couples from Australia.  They were fun companions for the day with funny stories to tell.

We began the tour at the Topkapi Palace which was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for over 400 years!  The palace is HUGE and has so much history!  Here are some pictures we took of the palace and grounds:

Church on the Palace Gounds

View from the Palace Terrace

Swimming pool (without water)

Me, looking like a Sultan's wife :)

After the Palace, we went to another lunch at a another Turkish restaraunt.  We enjoyed the Turkish cuisine and talking to the Australians.  They were pretty interesting people to say the least...haha!  After lunch, our guide took us on a walk towards the Blue Mosque.

On the way, we saw the Hippodrome which was the sporting and and social center of Constantinople:

Then, we arrived at the beautiful Blue Mosque!  It is an amazing mosque with incredible architecture and decor.

Women had to cover there legs and shoulders before entering. So, I tried to follow the rules :)



We found this guy outside the Blue Mosque enjoying the sun!



After the mosque, we went to the very anticipated Grand Bazaar where there are over 4,000 shops to "make our credit cards lighter" (as said by our tour guide... bad english translation).

Entrance to the bazaar



You wouldn't believe the many many beautiful things there are to buy here!  I wanted to buy the linens, rugs, scarves, plates, and jewelry.  I couldn't leave without haggling for something so after an hour of shopping we bought a beautiful hand-painted plate.  Price tag: 130 TL.  We paid 50 TL.  I would say that's a pretty good deal!

That night we went to a wonderful seafood restaraut on the Galatasary Island.  If you remember from yesterday's post, it is the man-made island on the Bosphorous where "high society" dine and socialize.  Well, Erol's Uncle Askin has friend who manages the restaurant so he was able to get us a reservation!  We had to take a small boat to the island.  The seafood was so fresh and fantastic and the view was even more amazing!

At the hotel, before going to dinner

Pool at the island

Are we in Asia or Europe.....???



What a long day we had! We were completely stuffed from dinner and tired from the long day.  We went back to the hotel to get ready for Sunday...

On Sunday, we were able to explore on our own without a tour guide.  We walked the streets around our hotel.

 Trolley

We found a beautiful Catholic Church

Takism Square



That night we had our usual cheap beer at happy hour

And bottle of Raki

After the raki, we decided to head home and pack for our flight to Kusadasi on Monday where we were meeting Erol's family!

To be continued (again)...