Breakfast at the Marmara Guesthouse with a good view from the terrace of the south end of the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul. Across the water is part of Istanbul in Asia.
Walked to Basilica Cistern, an underground water storage facility as ornate as a cathedral. Istanbul has plenty of salt water all around but fresh water has been a problem since ancient times. So, this was built for water storage in Roman times.
It’s just a tourist attraction now but it’s impressive. It has 336 marble columns and covers 9800 sq meters which I think is about two football fields.
Walked to the Grand Bazaar. It’s just a huge mall. It might be one of the first malls but still it’s a mall.
I thought the lamps were interesting and would kind of like one but even haggling with the guy in the photo didn’t result in a price I’d pay.
I think his best price was around $80 and I decided I didn’t want to deal with bringing one home in my carry-on. Besides, the lamps were mainly made of plastic parts.
Here’s a free range kitten roaming around outside the guesthouse.
After two tries this morning I got into the mosque, Hagia Sofia, this evening. A guide outside gave me a deal and me and a young couple from Mumbai, India were shown around the huge mosque.
It started out as a Christian church built by a Roman Emperor around 362 AD but later became a mosque under the Ottomans.
Today, it’s a functioning mosque but unusual in that the early Christian art has been uncovered. The Ottomans covered the paintings with plaster because in mosques there isn’t supposed to be figures of people or animals.
It is as impressive as any cathedral I’ve ever seen.
Went back to the same Turkish restaurant I ate at last night, Turgut. Different dish though and it was really good. Meal cost $18.
Also today, bought a small machine made carpet of genuine imitation silk that I didn’t need. You’ve got to watch yourself with the slick salesmen around here. I also forked out $0.82 for a frig magnet.
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