15 March 2012 6:35 MDT (14:35 local) What an amazing day so far. Breakfast was fine, I tried the little hotdogs and yellow juice for the first time ( mango?) Then, it turned out my room didn't have any hot water, which was bad because I had already trimmed my beard. Anyway, I made my travel arrangements to the airport, visited the blue mosque, visited Topkapi palace (most amazing place I may have ever been- tile so beautiful it made me appreciate tile, the biggest gemstones I've seen outside the smithsonian, and of course the head of John the Baptist), ate corn and chestnuts from vendor ( chestnuts yummier than expected, corn less so), went to the Byzentine cistern which reminded me of Carlsbad- really big underground chamber. And to think the city had several (many?)
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