Weekend relaxing

Most of this weekend, I was sort of sick to my stomach.  It was also about 105 degrees and I had no motivation to go out and look around.  The end of the trip was kind of anticlimactic with just relaxation and watching the Olympics 

Friday, Istanbul

On Friday, I went for another adventure in Sultanamet by myself.  I was mostly looking for shopping opportunities and to do some people watching, and that's exactly what I found.

I started off going to the Grand Bazaar area and walked around a lot until a deluge of rain passed through the city.  I had to take shelter in a small shop for about a half hour while the rain subsided.

Then, I spent the afternoon visiting the New Mosque and doing some people watching.

That evening, Julie, Selin, and I went out for dinner and clubbing.  The club was pretty fun, however, I wasn't feeling quite up for clubbing.  I think I ate something bad over the last day or so and also the amount of smoke that people were producing was incredible, and really getting to me.  It was an early night when we came back at about 3 am.

Day 4, Maiden Tower

Today, I went off by myself, since Julie wanted to head to the mall.  I tried to go to Dolmabahce Palace, but it happened to be closed on Thursdays, so I just took some outdoor pictures of the garden.  

Then I went to Uskudur for some shopping of my own and also to see Maiden Tower on Leander's Island.  This little island acted as a gateway to Istanbul on the Bosphorus.  Apparently, there was a chain across the entire river to prevent people from crossing.

Day 3 in Istanbul

Wednesday, Julie and I visited Topkapi Palace.  It was pretty fun and we saw the Sultan's harem and a treasury of the Sultan's jewels. In that collection every piece seemed to be lavishly decorated with emeralds, rubies, and diamonds.  It was amazing.  There was one 86 carat diamond there that was originally found in a garbage heap.  In another exhibit, there was a collection of old weaponry including ornate rifles and pistols and this 8 foot long sword which I am sure nobody has ever used. 

In the evening, we went for a cruise on the Bosphorus and then did another long walk along the Bosphorus coast.  Overall, a fun pleasant day.

Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

On the second day, we went to the Grand Bazaar where we looked around a bit and tried some bargaining. 

Later, after meeting our Icelandic friends, we hit up the Hagia Sophia, which was very impressive inside.  It had painted walls, mosaic murals, and was filled with low hanging chandeliers.  

In the afternoon, we went to a show of the whirling dervishes.   This entailed 4 musicians playing traditional music while 4 dervishes spun in circles for minutes at a time.   Overall, I thought the show was quite a yawn.  It could have been that time of the afternoon, but seriously, it was plain boring.

During the evening, we met with Selin for a nice dinner overlooking the entire city.  She seems to know the best places to go to eat.

Istanbul - Sultanahmet

The first day in Istanbul was spent in Sultanahmet where we checked out the Blue Mosque and did a Lonely Planet walking tour like good little tourists.  Most of the museums are closed on Mondays so we just had to do a nice walk along the river front.  

The Blue Mosque was pretty impressive inside but not as colorful as I expected.  It's not really blue either.  I guess Julie had to cover herself with blue cloth to get into the place though.  That was pretty funny.

Last day in Cappadocia

We spent the last day in Cappadocia just relaxing at the hotel.   It was too hot to do much of anything else.   I got started on my next book and we hung out with our Iceland friends for most of the day.