Our final day (for now) in Istanbul was spent seeing Istanbul's most famous sights - the Blue Mosque and Aya Sophia, both utterly beautiful and amazing buildings, literally across the street from one another. We entered the grounds of the Blue Mosque as directed by the guidebooks - from the Hippodrome side so you enter the courtyard facing the front of the building. The courtyard is the same size as the mosque's interior, and the sheer size is very impressive. Non-worshipers can only enter the mosque itself through a side door. You must take off your shoes and put them in a plastic bag (provided). Men can enter in shorts if they cover the knees, so our crew, in their long shorts, were OK. Janet was in a skirt, which didn't quite make it to her knees, and had to cover up with a blue schmata that closed with velcro (also provided). We had brought our head scarves, so we didn't have to borrow one of those. Getting in was a production with all the removing of shoes and socks, and covering up, but we all managed to make it through.
In comparison, the Blue Mosque is exquisite from the outside, and the Aya Sophia, while not much to look at from the street, is exquisite inside.
After visiting the cistern, we were for some reason in the mood for fish, so we took the local train, which has a station right down the street from our hotel, one stop to the Kumkapi section of the city, the fishing district on the Sea of Marmara. The train itself was definitely for the locals, not the tourists - old, no A/C, and doors that don't all close. Kumkapi is sort of funky - I think outside of the restaurant district, the area is pretty seedy. There's a town square from which 5 or 6 streets radiate. The square and part way up the street are lined with fish restaurants. They all serve the same things - I mean exactly the same things - the menus are exactly the same, with the prices written in sharpie. Most were willing to deal - discount the prices, give you something "on the house", etc. Tourism must be way down - at the height of the season the 20 or 25 restaurants were really pushing hard to lure in the few customers. We settled on what turned out to be an excellent choice - meze (appetizers) and fish for us, with complimentary dessert - a plate of fruits, and what I thought was the most delicious part of the meal - banana slices drizzled in honey, dusted with chopped pistachios, and topped with the Turkish form of whipped cream. Yum. The kids opted to roam on their own and had kebaps for dinner - also a good and frugal choice. The only disappointment was the wine - Janet ordered a glass of white wine which she described as "paint stripper". I had a sip and had to agree. In fact, she emailed our friends who are coming from England to meet up with us on Friday and told them to bring wine as the local stuff is undrinkable!
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