Istanbul, Constantinople... The title was Brandon's idea and he started singing, but doesn't know the words to the song. If you don't know what I am am talking about, don't worry about it.
On to other things.
Love the Bazaars! They are full of color, smells, activity, and well, people. Everywhere and I can just imagine how this very touristy area called Sultanamet would be in the summer at the height of tourist season. We toured Topkapi palace yesterday and it took about 4 hours. It was the home of the Sultan built and redesigned over a 600 year period, I believe. Our first stop in the palace was the Harem. I can imagine that this was the most exotic portion of the palace. We have a few pictures that do not do it justice. Once thing I love about the palace and alot of the places here is the porceline tiles in beautiful vibrant colors, but mostly shades of blue, green, and red. I regret that I have to haul my pack around for another 2 weeks otherwise I would spend a fortune on tiles and plates and beautiful ceramics. The carpets are beautiful too, but I love the ceramics. Thanksfully, for my wallet's sake, we are leaving Istanbul tomorrow evening.
Today we left after breakfast (bread, jam, cheese, tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, and delicious turkish tea) on the ferry for a tour of the Bosphorous. It was a great day to do this since it rained the whole morning. In the rain we hiked up to the castle at the entrance of the Bosphorous connecting it to the Black sea. The Bosphorous connects Turkey (Istanbul) to the rest of Europe and Asia. Speaking of Asia...we spent 3 hours on the Asian shore today and tomorrow, our bus departs from the Asian side of Istanbul. I can add another continent to my list, not that I'm counting. :O)
Somehow I forgot that we were coming to an Islamic (partially) country at the height of Ramadan. It ends on 19 September, the day before we leave Turkey. During Ramadan, practicing Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. The foods lines get busier after this point. Throughout the day we hear Islamic prayers over loud speakers from all the many many Mosques around Istanbul. It is very captivating.
Tomorrow we board our over night bus for Pamukkale. It leaves from Istanbul at 10pm and arrives just outside of Pamukkale at 7:30am. Because we're a bit crazy, we are taking the best bus line (Varan) in Turkey, or so the rumor goes. We'll let you know how it goes.
