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Published: June 15th 2011
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We've had quite an enjoyable day today. We had decided that we would visit the western district today as our Lonely Planet told us that Wednesday was open market day in this region. We didn't know what to expect but decided that it would show us a side of Istanbul off the main tourist trail.
Our first stop was the Suleymaniye Mosque. This mosque has much simpler decoration than the Blue Mosque but we both thought that it was gorgeous. I really like the open airy feel of the mosques and they seem very calm places. From a tourist point of view this mosque was nice in that there were hardly any other tourists around at all. I'm very pleased that we decided to visit this one. We half expected that we wouldn't be able to go in as Terry was dressed in shorts. However, they have wraps available at the mosque's entrance for visitors who are inappropriately dressed.
After a freshly squeezed orange juice at a nearby restaurant we walked through the Istanbul University district and headed further west towards the Fatih Mosque. We didn't go into this one but it was the location around which the open
air market was located. The open air market was only clothing so we didn't stay too long. It was also very crowded.
Our next tourist stop was the Aqueduct of Valens. There isn't that much of this structure left but a portion of it straddles one of the main thoroughfares in Istanbul. The aqueduct was commissioned in 373 AD and linked 400 km of channels, 30 bridges and 100 cisterns within the city walls. It reminded me a bit of the Pont du Gard in France although this one is much longer. We had a cup of tea at a small tea house in the shade of the aqueduct before deciding that some of the nearby restaurants looked like pleasant places for lunch. We've really been enjoying the food and today was no exception. It is also relatively inexpensive which only helps add to our enjoyment.
There were a large number of food stores in this region and so of course we had to go and have a look. There were stores selling honey, both in bottles and still on the comb, butchers (tripe is popular in Turkey and lambs heads were also for sale) and spice merchants.
The spice merchants also sold dried fruit, nuts, cheese and bulgur in different grades/sizes.
After that we meandered back towards the spice bazaar before heading home. After seeing the spice merchants in the suburbs it's obvious just how much the shops in the spice bazaar are catering to the tourists.
Once we download the camera and post this blog we will be packing as we have an early start tomorrow (4:00 am) to catch a bus to the airport and a plane to Kayseri in Capodaccia. From there we have a bus ride to one of the villages (Urgup).
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