İstanbul and the Bosphorus

I'd rather you just look at my pictures. There's not too much I can say here. We started our morning with a boat tour on the Bosphorus (the strait that runs through İstanbul, separating the European and Asian sides, joining the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara) that took us between both bridges that cross Thrace/Anatolia. Then we docked and had lunch, and toured the major areas one is supposed to tour in İstanbul. Ayasofya (Hagia Sofia), Sultanahmet Camii (The Blue Mosque), Topkapı Sarayı (Palace used administratively by Ottomans for many centures - even has a Harem!), and the Roman Cistern. One wonders how places like this could even feasibly still be standing. The weight of the history resting on these buildings is palpable - maybe that's why they're almost always covered in scaffolding :\ . You could spend hours just lying on your back in the middle of Sultanhamet Camii, staring at the ceiling. Unless you're a woman, of course...in which case the middle is inaccessible to you. ;) İstanbul is a city that has had three major civilizations call it Capital, and as you speed up the Bosphorus on a boat, you really get a sense for why the city has been so economically important for so long. Oh, to dredge the bottom of the Bosphorus to see what I could find...

I walked all day, and now I'm tired. We have to get up very early in the morning to meet with the American Embassy, then I'll finally be off to meet my host family in Bursa. Güle güle, ve iyi geceler!

See my full photo album here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2298523&id=17204221&l=0580868f23

Ayasofya

Entrance to Sultanhemet Camii (The Blue Mosque)

Inside Ayasofya

Some totally sweet lookin' tiles in Topkapı Palace