Grand Ons Istanbul

... Hagia Sophia, it is still one of the most impressive structures we’ve ever seen. When you first step inside the nave, you think it looks like a mosque- it’s decorated that way. But when you explore around, you see ancient mosaics that were uncovered on the walls, in Christian themes. It’s said that this mosque is where east meets west, in terms of architecture, decorations, and purpose.

The second most popular mosque in Istanbul is the Blue ...

... near some kind of street market. After playing Frogger across a 3-lane highway and squeezing ourselves through a missing slat in the highway median, we were amidst the hordes of sellers and could get our bazaar shopping fix. It wasn't quite the Grand Bazaar, but we had a good time walking around and taking in the sites.

For the evening, we had a non-notable dinner (mmm... Iskender kebab) and then headed to the ...

... my belt and then I stick the camera in my pocket, hopeully secure.

I had left the camera in my pocket when I did the worm, totally forgetting that it was there since I don't even think about it now, it's just always there...which is exactly why I SHOULD have known it was there and ironically exactly why I DIDN'T notice anything in my pocket.

Devastated.

At least it still takes good pictures... At least it had been in the hard case so the screen hasn't ...

... it is not so. It seems that the Turks practice a more relaxed version of their faith We finish our walk and return to the hotel for another "Turkish" breakfast. Although the breakfast is just OK, the view is fantastic. We spend an hour sipping our coffee, eating our cheese, bread and yogurt, and enjoying the passing panorama in the sea. After a nice respite, we head to the Grand Bazaar. Nothing we had read prepared us for the Grand ...

... really happy about it;). In the evening I enjoyed the lit city, dreamt of taking a hammam, hid from a storm and took a bus to the airport. The bus takes an hour to get to the airport and the highway goes through blocks of flats all the time - Istanbul is really huge. At the airport I finally had my "last call" nervousness time since there are so many queues at so many different places one isn't just used to;). And that's it... back to cold, precise and badly dressed Germany ...

... the boss at our hotel and they had overbooked the place. He scurried us into his office where he told us to sit down. He apologized profusely and told us he would find us another room. It was now almost 10pm and we were exhausted and getting very giddy. He brought us apple tea and gave us presents of watermelon and evil eye bracelets. But he spoke very little English and the conversations were mostly a lot of dilerious laughter. We asked ...

... where we have lunch. We are driving along Egnatia Highway, and late in the afternoon we reach our hotel in KOMOTINI. I am anxious to see if we have a nice room and have a shower. We are all a bit tired but hungry, and at the same time we want to get to know the place as much as we can. We arrange with some friends to meet in half an hour and walk to the centre of the city for dinner. There was a music festival taking place that night. The hotel was ...

... the courtyard door. People came and left, to pray or to visit. Some others just sat, like us. Once the sun had set behind the nearby buildings... ...we walked onto the Galata Bridge where we could watch the sun set again behind a different mosque. On the other end of the bridge, we came upon movie lights, a camera on a boom and a crowd of people pretending to be celebrating after a Turkish soccer vistory. This little movie is fun...

Today we woke up late again. After breakfast, I was still tired and didn't want to go anywhere today. All the same, we walked down to the Blue mosque and sat at the fountain in the garden next to it. We stayed there for a while, and then visited the Topkapi Palace. It was big, beautiful with gardens. It was once home to Selim the Sot who drowned in the bath-tub after to much champagne!!! It was also home to Abraham the mad who lost ...

I know its a weak joke but I am sure I must have spent a lot of time in Turkish baths in a previous life. Must have been a sultana. Margherita came to stay this weekend as a prelude to a business trip and Simon came at the last minute to take some of my luggage home. We went out to try an Iftar buffet and decided on the Ritz-Carlton. This is probably the most expensive Iftar menu in town but it was spectacular and there were some (obviously wealthy) locals ...