Turkey 2008 - April 26 - Kusadasi to Athens

A driver picked us up at the hotel early this morning to take us to the ferry to Samos Island. When we arrived at the dock, a young man with a badge, greasy hair and wrap-around sunglasses met us and took our passports and voucher for the ferry. We were worried that this was a scam but others in the ferry line had the same thing happen to them. Once the passports and boarding passes started arriving we relaxed. The ferry left the dock at 9:00 with us and several other people from our Rick Steves touring group. The seas were fairly calm, the temperature was cool and the sunny was shining brightly. It was a pleasant hour and 45 minute journey.

Ann on the Ferry Leaving Kusadasi

The arrival on Samos Island was our official entry to Greece. We passed through customs, wandered down the street to an ATM to get some euros and caught a taxi to the airport. We shared the ride with Tom and Leslie, our new friends from Colville who were on the RS tour with us. We sat around in the small airport for a couple of hours before we boarded our twin-engine prop airplane for Athens.

The flight to Athens took only 45 minutes. Even in that short period of time, the crew was able to serve us a snack and drinks.

When we picked up our bags, we said good-bye to Tom and Leslie (they were waiting for their daughter to arrive on another flight) and walked to the Metro station.  The weather was cool and windy which made the wait for the train very chilly. Once we got on it became much warmer. The ride into Athens was uneventful. We had a little trouble finding our boarding platform for our transfer to another train, but all signs and announcements were in both Greek and English. We got off the train at the Akropoli station and wandered through the old city streets until we found our hotel. Although we had a map and were able to walk directly to our hotel, the street signs were all in Greek with the strange Greek alphabet. (Being close to the frat and sorority in Berkeley with their Greek inscriptions helped).

Our room is on the fourth floor and has a good view of the Acropolis. The room is very comfortable with its king-sized bed and a fully equipped bathroom. (If it has tissues, it is very good. If it has wash cloths, it is even better).

The Acropolis from Our Hotel Room

By this time, it was after 5:00, so we checked our email, cleaned up and went on our search for a dinner restaurant. The streets in the old section of town called the Plaka wind around and are narrow and narrower. They are lined with quaint houses, old buildings, ruins, shops and restaurants. We were looking for Toa Psara which was highly recommended in Trip Advisor as a top choice. We got slightly lost but by doing so, we saw many local people getting ready for the Greek Orthodox Easter celebration.

Our dinner was pretty good. We started with a Greek salad with tasty tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, capers, etc. For a main course and had lamb souvlaki while I had grilled calamari. We shared a half-carafe of red wine. When we were finishing our meal, we looked out the window and saw an Easter eve procession coming down the steps outside of the restaurant. Most were carrying candles. It was very colorful.

Easter Eve Promenade

It was now nearing 9:00 and people were starting to fill up the restaurants. Late meals seem to be the standard in Greece. We walked back to our hotel and got to sleep at 10:30.

Turkey 2008 - April 25 - Kusadasi and Ephesus

Kusadasi breakfast was ample - traditional - and we all stoked up to prepare for our 8:00 outing into beautiful Ephesus ruins which are the most reconstructed that we have seen. As Sidar led us to the ruins of the city assembly amphitheater, we noticed many storks flying overhead - a good luck symbol according to Turkish legend. First settled by neolithic farmers, Ephesus is best known for its Hellinistic art and architecture and later Roman reconstructions which were visited by St Paul and St John. Paul's lectures in the reconstructed theater probably led to the end of Ephesus as the pagans were discouraged from multiple deity worship and Christians soon moved on to build closer to the Aegean. The city was once on a harbor, but silt filled it in so it is now about 3 miles from the sea.

Ann in Front of the Library at Ephesus and the Main Street

After our visit to Ephesus, we went back to Kusadasi so that we could eat lunch, do some shopping and let Ann swim in the hotel's pool.

We had our farewell dinner tonight at another restaurant overlooking the sea at sunset time. The mayor of Kusadasi toasted us before our meal. At the end, we presented Masut, our driver, with a gift of CDs of Turkish songs. We gave Sadir a good bottle of Raki - the national drink of Turkey.

Turkey 2008 - April 24 - Pamukkle to Kusadasi

(Note: I have become lazy so the next couple of journal entries are from Ann. You will notice a difference in prose and type of content - i.e. not much about food).

Leaving touristy Pamukkale we raced to arrive at Aphrodias, an ancient site inhabited since neolithic times. What Sidar guided us through was mostly Roman ruins superceded by Christian structures including the theater, uncovered remains of a pool stretching for almost 5 stadia (10 football fields) and a stadium seating up to 30,00. We were on our own to visit the museum and take pictures of masks on the friezes and the ubiquitous cats and dogs inhabiting the site now.

Wall of Masks

Our remaining 3 hour bus ride took us to Kusadasi and the final 2 days of the Turkey tour. We were one of the lucky folks whose rooms had spectacular views across the city and the Aegean coast 2 blocks away. After leaving clothes to be done at the yacht harbor laundry, we joined our group to enjoy our dinner gazing at the Aegean sunset. With clean laundry, we walked back up the hill to Grand Otel Onder and bed.

Aegean Sunset

Turkey 2008 - April 23 - Antalya to Pamukkale

Our bus was parked near the stadium. As we walked there this morning, we got to see participants in the ceremony celebrating Turkish children on this Independence Day holiday. Most of them were children dressed in ethnic costumes, martial arts outfits and school uniforms. Underway on the bus we made an impromptu stop at a school where relatives were watching their children perform ethnic dances. When we walked in, we were soon surrounded by cute young girls testing their English - Hello - How are you? - Where do you live? - How old are you? - What's your name? - etc. They enjoyed posing for pictures.

Children Dancing and Ann Talking with Schoolgirls

Relatives watching

Our main morning stop was at a huge local street market. It had luscious looking vegetables and fruits along with dates, cheese displayed in hollowed out goat legs and honey combs. Housewares and clothing were also for sale. We bought grapefruit and peanuts for our bus ride and yummy deep-fried dough stuffed with bananas and soaked with honey for an immediate snack. On the way back to the bus, I had smoked goat milk ice cream which sounds strange but was very good.

Vegetables and Banana Dough

This was grazing day, so when we stopped at the next truck stop, we snacked on Turkish mac and cheese and cold vegetables and potatoes.

We reached Pamukkale and were soon walking barefoot on the white, sandy calcium deposits left from leaking thermal baths. After that, we watched some bathers partaking in the healing powers of the thermal pools. Then we walked to the well-preserved Roman theater and on to the bus past a huge necropolis filled with sarcophagi.

Sarcophagi in the Necropolis and Pat and Ann wading in the Water

Our hotel was in a small town near Pamukkale. It also had a thermal pool which some of our group used. There were no reports of instant healing of any ailments. Dinner was a disappointing buffet. We did a stroll through town after dinner to look at the local shops.

Turkey 2008 - April 22 - Antalya

We took the bus from Antalya to the touristy yacht harbor in Kemer where we boarded our boat to cruise the Mediterranean coast. The wooden boat was broad beamed and had fake sails furled on its three masts. Seats were comfortable for all 27 of us on deck and there was a spacious foredeck with nice pads for sun bathing which none of us did. It was hazy and cool.

Our Boat

After about 45 minutes of cruising the coast, we turned into a quiet, sheltered cove and anchored. A few swimmers (including Ann) and some water-testers went over the side and swam around for awhile. Leslie and David both swam to the beach and back. No jellyfish or other sea creatures were encountered.

Leslie, Ann and David in the Mediterranean

Lunch was on board. The main course was fried mackerel, but there was also chicken, spaghetti and other things to fill us up.

We were then ready to hoist anchor to explore another cove, but Sitar, who loves boats and sailing, announced that the boat had transmission trouble and we would have to be towed back to port and that the rescue boat was on its way. No one was alarmed - this was part of our Turkish adventure. While we waited, we were entertained by passengers of another boat diving from the top of their boat into the water.  Our rescuers arrived at around 3:00 by another bathtub boat carrying passengers from Russia. Our crew and the other boat's crew managed to get us under tow with Sitar at the helm. We limped into the harbor where we were nudged back into our berth by a zodiac.

It was 4:30 by the time we got to the bus so we missed going to the archeological museum which closed at 5:00. When we got back to our hotel, I managed to squeeze in a Turkish bath before we had to schlep our luggage to the bus. We had to load our luggage tonight because the bus could not park near our hotel the next morning. There was going to be a Independence Day celebration with hundreds of children and their parents walking to the central stadium and the near-by streets would be closed.

Barbequed sea bass and Turkish appetizers were cooked for dinner by Ali, our pension owner. We all ate around the outdoor garden patio.

Ann and Lilliana at Dinner

Turkey 2008 - April 21 - Konya to Antalya

We had a huge breakfast buffet this morning. There were even omelets and scrambled eggs along with the olives, cucumbers, tomatoes and other Turkish breakfast delights. I was able to have one of my favorites again - yogurt mixed with molasses and honey. The coffee was made in a machine that could produce espresso, cappuccino, cafe latte and many other styles.

We checked out of our hotel and got onto the bus for our long journey to Antalya. The weather was sunny and the temperature fairly warm. We stopped at a truck stop for a potty break, and wandered into its market area where they sold dozens of types of candy (which we didn't buy) and several kinds of raisins ( of which we bought one). We shared tastes with other tour members.

Our next stop was what Sidar called a surprise. It was a cave visit in an area that very few tourists go to - Tinaz Tepe. When we walked into the cave, there was a large group of school girls just finishing their visit. They were a typical group of giggling teenagers dressed totally different than American girls. The cave was long with large rooms and (happily) high ceilings. At the far end of our walk-through was a small emerald-colored lake. It was very picturesque. The cave didn't have many stalagmites and stalactites which made us think that it was a "young" cave compared to others we have seen.

School Girls and a Cave Scene

After the cave visit, we had a picnic lunch in the grounds near the cave entrance. The meal consisted of grilled lamb, fish, chicken or meatballs. Salads were optional as were desserts - rice pudding, yogurt pudding or pure honey comb. I opted for the latter and shared it with our table.

Lunch at the Cave

The rest of the bus ride found us climbing up to 6,000 feet into typical alpine terrain - evergreen trees and lots of rocks. Then we began our decent to the Mediterranean. We quickly entered fertile land where they were growing oranges and bananas. We stopped at a roadside stand and bought some.

Roadside Fruit Stand

We got to Antayla around 5:00. Sidar had a plan where the bus would drop us off near the pension (the streets are too narrow for a bus) so we could schlep our bags. The police wouldn't let us stop and take time to unload, though, because there was an Independence Day function going on - a children's walk. We drove around for awhile a finally got off of the bus to do some walking around. After about 20 minutes, we found the bus again close to our pension, got our bags and marched to our rooms.

The Ninova Pension is in a very old building with creaking floors and unique rooms. Our room is very small with a queen-sized bed. Hot water takes a long time to get to it.

Our Room

After a brief happy hour in the beautiful terrace behind the pension, Sidar lead us on an orientation walk to get help us to not get lost when we were on our own. After that, we strolled to a fish restaurant for dinner. Our waiter chose the meal for us - a large salad and small grilled white fist from the Black Sea. It was good and reasonably priced.

Turkey 2008 - April 20 - Guzelyurt to Konya

At 9:00 this morning, we meandered through the village of Guzelyurt from our hotel to an ancient mosque called St Gregory. The mosque was a church at one time and it was here that the Gregorian chants originated. The purpose of our visit was to have a Q&A session with the mosque's Imam. I expected to see an old bearded cleric with long robes and a Muslim cap. Instead, we were greeted by a clean-shaven young man in Western dress. We had a fascinating discussion with him about Islam, the Koran, suicide bombers and many other things. He answered all of our questions. We learned many things. Imams are employed by the government. They can marry and have children. Turkish Islam is very different from Islam other countries. Killing is the worst thing that a Muslim can do. Etc....

Here We Are with the Imam

After our visit, we got onto the bus and started driving to Konya. Lunch was at a truck stop where they had very decent meals. Our next stop was at an old Silk Caravanserai - one of the largest and best-preserved ones in Turkey. It has a large courtyard which was used for summer lodging and several rooms around the courtyard that were used in the winter.

The Caravanserai and its Courtyard

We drove on to Konya where we stopped at a museum complex associated with Mevlana, known in the West as Rumi, the spiritual father of the Whirling Dervishes. We did not see a dervish demonstration, but we did see a lot of old tombs and Korans.

 

Part of the Museum Complex

We reached our hotel at 5:30. This gave us time to look at our emails and publish our blogs for the last few days. Our hotel is well-appointed with hot and cold water, air conditioning (it is warming up) and wireless internet. Dinner was at 7:00. We had the traditional salad of chopped tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, semi-hot peppers and parsley. Our soup was mushroom and our main course was grilled chicken with French fries and rice. Dessert was either a dark pound cake with a honey filler or rice pudding.

After dinner, we took a short walk around a park near our hotel.

Turkey 2008 - April 17 - Istanbul to Ankara to Cappadocia

We slept on the train (at least we tried) in our cozy compartment. The tracks were very rough which cause the train to bump around during the night. It made abrupt stops from time-to-time which jolted us awake. We expected this, though, so it was a fun experience.

Our Compartment

Breakfast at 6:30 was olives, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, bread and a hard-boiled egg with coffee (Nescafe). Although Turkish coffee is made with real ground coffee, most "regular" coffee is instant. Almost everyone from our group made it to breakfast. The ones that didn't opted to sleep a little more.

We got to Ankara at 8:30 and met our bus. Then it was off to the Anatolian Civilizations Museum. It displayed artifacts from Paleozoic times to more recent history. It was a fairly small but very intense exhibit. There were lots of cave paintings, ceramics, stone sculptures, etc.

Matriarch

After that we made the requisite visit to Ataturk's mausoleum and museum.

Lunch was on our own. We went to a fast-food place and had sandwiches. Ann was conservative and had tuna with tomatoes. I had my first Turkish gyro - lamb and vegetables. There were lots of locals there so it must have been good.

Our Lunch Spot

Then it was time to get on our bus to drive 5 1/2 hours to Cappadocia. It was an easy drive because we had time to nap and catch up on some of the sleep we lost on the train. We also made two pit stops to stretch and relieve our bladders. The pit stops were in huge truck stops with restaurants and shops. We even had a chance to drop a one-lira coin in a slot and get a five-minute massage on a special massage chair. Ann said it was quite good.

Our inn called The Greek House  in the village of Mustafapasa  is a 300 year-old house that has been run by the same family for many years. They bought it after the Greeks were tossed out of Turkey in the 1970's (?). The Greek owner was mayor of the village so it was a large, well appointed house. It has several old rooms that have been upgraded through the years to meet more Western standards (meaning attached bathrooms with Western toilets). Our shower, however, has no shower stall. Water is sprayed over most of the bathroom floor as well as the toilet.

Our dining room was right outside our room. We sat on the floor around three large tables. The family-style meal consisted of a tomato/cucumber/onion salad, a beef/pepper/onion/egg plant stew, rice cooked with butter and macaroni and two kinds of baklava.

Dinner

We were asleep around 10:00.

Turkey 2008 - April 19 - Cappadocia to Guzelyurt

We awoke at 6:30 to overcast skies and cool temperatures. Breakfast at The Greek House was the same as yesterday. We loaded the bus and left at 9:00. The bus dropped a majority of us off on a narrow dirt road for a 5-mile hike in the countryside. We meandered on a trail in a narrow canyon. There were fairy chimneys on both sides of us. Flowers were beginning to bloom and birds were singing. There was high brush and low trees along the way. The trail was fairly easy to navigate except for the many creek crossings. Nobody fell in but a few got their feet wet and their backsides dirty. The weather got warm enough to strip down to a T-shirt and shorts.

 

Stream Crossing on the Hike

We met the bus and the rest of the tour at the end of the hike. After cleaning mud from our shoes, we took off for lunch. Lunch was in a restaurant in a town near the Red River. We had a cold yogurt-based soup with cucumber, parsley, etc. Then we had the typical salad based on tomatoes, onions and lots of chopped green vegetables. A beef stew came next and baklava for dessert. This was all chased down by some Turkish beer.

Turkish Beer

Our next stop was a ceramics workshop. We had demonstrations of plate making and pot throwing by a master potter who made a sugar bowl with cover all out of the same hunk of clay. Our host asked for a volunteer to throw a pot and, of course, I volunteered. The bowl that I created was like the first one I did in college - thick, heavy and ugly. After the demonstrations, we were shown all of the grades of ceramics that they had in their salesroom. There was some pressure to buy, but those that did got some very special ceramics.

Ceramics

We then rode the bus to to visit the underground city of Kaymakli. This was a series of underground tunnels and room that were carved in the stone. There purpose was for local villagers to hide and live in them during wars which were fairly common in this area. This particular underground city could hold up to 2,000 people. Our tour went through many of the tunnels and room. Some were a tight fit and very uncomfortable for those with claustrophobia. I was one of those, but I made it without panicking.

Underground City

Our last stop was at our hotel in Guzelyurt. It is a converted monastery. Our room has a spiral staircase leading up to the bedroom which contains four beds. It is fairly primitive but it has hot water and heat. (We are at 5,000 feet). We walked one block to the town center and bought some beer and some raki - the Turkey national liquor which tastes like licorice. Dinner was a buffet in the monastery's dining hall.

Our Hotel and Our Room

Turkey 2008 - April 18 - Cappadocia

We awoke to clear skies and cool temperatures. Breakfast was at 8:00. It was the typical spread of olives, cheese, bread, several kinds of jelly and coffee. There were no eggs today. We all ate at a long table in the open-air lobby of the inn. It was a little chilly, but it was manageable.

At 9:00 we began a stroll through our village - Mustafapasa. We saw lots of rock formations, pigeon caves, people caves, old houses and a couple of wineries. We also visited a man whose summer home was a large open area tucked away in a small canyon. He was supposed to turn this area over to the government a few years ago because it had an old church with frescos on it. He fought the government and won. He has the site decorated with artifacts that he has found around the countryside. We sat in one of his caves and had some refreshments.

The Cave

Back at the inn, we snacked on tea and flat bread stuffed with cheese. Then we were off on the bus for a tour of the countryside with its other-worldly "fairy chimney" rock formations. We stopped at an open-air museum where caves served as early Christian churches. The frescos in the caves were well preserved.

Example of the Frescos

The highlight of the trip so far was our lunch that was served by a local family in their "guest house" which was a one-room baked brick house. The family consisted of four generations. Great grandmother, grandmother and her sister, daughter and her young son. The meal was white beans, salad and rice. Dessert was a local apple. After lunch we had a lively discussion of our cultures. Great grandmother and grandmother (who cooked the meal) were fairly reserved and were dressed in home-made harem pants and scarves. Sister was a teacher Ankara who wore Western clothes and was very outspoken. None of them spoke English so Sitar had to translate.

Great Grandmother, Sister of Grandmother and Grandmother

After lunch, we visited a rug weaving factory. We had one of the owners guide us through the weaving process and the silk-spinning process. With help from several assistants, he showed us many different rugs and explained the difference between them all. Some of our group bought rugs. We managed to resist.

Back at the inn, we had another sit-on-the-floor dinner. This time we had tomato salad, spiced bread balls, some flat bread with cheese in it, stuffed squash, meat balls, potatoes and fresh strawberries. After we ate, they cleared and rolled out the tables. Two musicians showed up. One played a stringed instrument like a guitar. The other played a small drum. The drummer also danced with castanets and then spoons. When the inn's entire family showed up, the drummer and then the family's young women coaxed everybody to dance. It was a fun evening.

Turkey 2008 - April 16 - Istanbul

We woke up to clear skies and cool, breezy weather. Our breakfast was the same, but I discovered yogurt mixed with honey and molasses. It could become a breakfast staple.

At 8:45, we checked out of the hotel and loaded our bags on the bus. Then we walked to Topkapi Palace which was the sultan's official palace. It is now a state-supported museum. Sidar gave us an overview and led us on a walk around the grounds to get us oriented. We then split up to go our own directions. The first exhibit we saw was the Royal Treasury. The jewels and jeweled swords and daggers were spectacular. Two things that I remember best were the chest filled with emeralds and the 86-karat Spoon Diamond.

The Way into the Palace

The next major exhibit we saw was the Harem. This is a huge complex of many rooms that were used by the eunuchs, concubines and the sultan's mother, who had the power to control the choice of future Sultans by manipulating the offspring of her favorite wives to power.  The richly decorated apartments, the library, lavish baths and receiving rooms were covered with splendid tiles and the doors were  paneled with exquisite mother-of-pearl inlay.  All this accommodated up to 400 concubines as well as wives and their Black African attendants. 

The Passage of Concubines

We left the palace and meandered to the Hagia Sophia to meet our bus. On the way, we sampled pretzel-like breads from a street vendor. I had one that was covered by sesame seeds while Ann had one that was filled with cheese. While waiting for the bus, we joined a big crowd watching groups of school children in ethnic costume performing traditional dances watched by a viewing stand was full of dignitaries.

Dancing Children

The bus took us over the Galata bridge to the New City. This part of Istanbul is not in Asia as we thought before when we walked over the bridge. It is the newer section of the city with more modern buildings and stores. We came here to see the contrast from the old part of town. We strolled up Istiklal Street towards Taksim Square past dozens of shops and cafes until we reached Bostana, an Armenian restaurant recommended in the RS tour book. The manager, Alisir Aday, helped us order. We enjoyed a salad of split cherry tomatoes with feta cheese and walnuts and a couple of plates of appetizers including dolma with yogurt and breaded ground meats mixed with herbs. We shared dessert of two delicious pie slices- caramel-apple and white corn bread with a filling of something sweet mixed with chopped nuts.

The bus took us back to the old part of the city and dropped us off at the Egyptian Spice Market. This market is much smaller the the Grand Bazaar and it specializes in all kinds of exotic spices. The smell inside is wonderful. Not needing any spices for our meals, we wandered around for awhile and bought some salted peanuts for snacks on the bus. Then we walked over to the water on the other side of the busy street and met our group for a cruise on the Bosphorus.

Spices

The cruise was on a small tourist boat that could seat 100 people easily. We sat outside on the upper deck while we went north. When the boat turned around and headed south, the wind drove us inside to the lower deck. The cruise lasted for about 1 1/2 hours. Sidar pointed out many landmarks on the way including several palaces, a strategic located fort and many old timbered houses that were sold for tens of millions of dollars. As we headed back we were treated to some sea traffic drama when several large ships bearing down on our boat forced our captain to take  some quick evasive action.

Our Boat

Our cruise ended in the Kadikoy district which is in Asia. It is interesting that a large mass of people commute between Europe and Asia every day. Our goal here was to eat dinner and then catch our overnight train to take us to Ankara. The market/dining area in this part of Istanbul is much smaller than in the Europe area. So it shouldn't have been difficult to find what we wanted which was fish. Of course we couldn't find the first restaurant we were looking for - Raki & Fish - so we settled on Ottoman cuisine at Yanyall. They spoke very little English there so we ordered by pointing. We each had fish that was cooked in a stew of vegetables. We also split a mixed green salad that contained beets and carrots. We ordered two kinds of rice - white rice with small bit of liver mixed in and a Spanish rice. Most of the rice that we have eaten so far has been prepared with lots of butter.

Ann and Our Waiter

After dinner, we wandered through the market with our friends from Colville and bought some bananas and oranges for the following day.

At 9:00, the bus took us to the train station where we boarded our overnight train for Ankara. Each couple had a small compartment with bunk beds and a sink. Bathrooms were down the corridor - at one end was the Turkish-style one-holer while the other end had a Western-style toilet. The train left the station at 10:30. We were in our bunks by 11:00.

The Train

Turkey 2008 - April 15 - Istanbul

This morning we awoke to clearing skies and cool temperatures. We only had 9 hours of sleep last night and feel like we are leaving our jet lag behind. Breakfast was the same as yesterday - bread, yogurt, meats, eggs, olives, coffee, etc. We ate with Alex Potter from Walnut Creek.

Our tour started at 9:00. We walked about 1/4 mile to look at the cisterns, an underground water system that was create in the Byzantine times in the sixth century. The cistern covers an area the size of two football fields. There are 336 columns supporting a brick ceiling directly the city streets. A highlight is two Medusa heads lying on the ground squeezed under two pillars. It was cool, damp and spooky. We even saw fish swimming in the water.

The Cistern and Medusa

Next, we walked a couple of blocks to the Hagia Sophia. This served Constantinople as a church for centuries. It has also served as a mosque. It has been converted to a museum so no secular services are performed there. It was built in the sixth century an has an enormous dome that would fit Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral under it.

We then walked along the Hippodrome and visited the Museum of Turkish & Islamic Art. The museum featured hundreds of carpets and ceramics as well as realistic displays of nomadic tents and early Istanbul household interiors.

Lunch was on our own. We picked a small restaurant near the museum. Ann had grilled chicken and a green salad with white beans. I had Sultanahmet Koftecisi (lamb meatballs) and a green salad.

After lunch, we met our bus for the first time and drove to the Chora Church. This church was built in the fourth century and contains some of the best examples of late Byzantine mosaics anywhere. It is fairly small and very crowded.

Example of Byzantine Mosaics

After the church visit, we drove back into the city and wandered through the Grand Bazaar. This huge covered market has hundreds of shops and offers everything from housewares to carpets to jewelry to clothes to.... There are lots of hustlers trying to get you into shops to buy something. Bargaining is a must. We weren't ready to buy yet so we just looked.

The Grand Bazaar

After strolling back to the hotel, we rested and then walked up one block to Yeni Akbiyik Caddesi (White Mustache Street) and picked a sidewalk restaurant for dinner. We had a mixed vegetable appetizer for two. For a main course, Ann had an eggplant puree with lamb and rice. I had lamb kabobs. It was tasty. It was barely warm enough to eat outside and watch the world walk by.

A couple of thing that we noticed about Istanbul are the abundance of old timbered houses and motion-sensitive lights. We aren't sure where the wood comes from for the houses and we think the the lights are a good "green" idea.