Day Ten - Istanbul

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Yesterday we were landed in Istanbul at a reasonable hour of 8 am. We took the shuttle bus into town (right near the Grand Bazaar). Dad, sisters, Matt and I walked over to the Blue Mosque. It was supposed to be about 1.5 miles, but it wasn't nearly that far. To go inside you need to remove your shoes and your legs and shoulders must be covered. We also thought that you had to wear a veil, but apparently it wasn't required as most of the women (tourists) were not wearing any head covering. Inside it is very simple. Just basically one big room with some lovely ceiling designs. Much more simple than all of the fancy churches we have seen.

The skyline of Turkey is doted by mosques. We attempted to go to the Hagia Sophia, which was built in either the 300s or the 600s A.D., I can't remember which, but there was a long line and it turns out that they didn't accept anything but Turkish money. (Most of the stores in Turkey accept US dollars and Euros, so we didn't bother getting Turkish money).

We at lunch at a little Turkish cafe. It was delicious and there were lots of Turks there, so it must be a local favorite as well. After that we all headed to the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is a covered market with 26 square blocks of shops. It wasn't nearly as crowded as I expected. Apparently business has been down in the past few years, because foreigners are afraid of visiting a Muslim country. The market sells pretty much all kinds of Turkish goods, such as rugs, ceramics, food and drink items, leather, and plenty of other beautiful things. We all bought something, although I think Mom and Dad bought the most. Then we all took the shuttle back when we were done shopping and the boat left Istanbul about 6 pm. We had a pretty uneventful night other than Catherine, Caroline and I singing in Karoke. We sang "Stop in the Name of Love".

This morning we are still sailing to our next port, so we have a bit of time before we disembark. Time for some breakfast!

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