Very Sweaty in Istanbul

Flights Taken : 1          Countries Visited : 1

So here we are finally after all the years of discussion, saving and planning off on our famous World Tour.

First stop where we arrived yesterday evening is Istanbul. This is our second visit to the city, last time we visited in 2007 we did all the main touristy things, so this time we decided to do the rest of the stuff that we did not manage to do on our first visit.
We arrived on the last evening of the Eid holiday which is at the end of Ramadan. As we drove into the city there were thousands of people around having picnics and celebrating the end of the holidays. Later on in the evening we enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere sitting on some benches in front of the Blue Mosque and enjoying the view of it and the Hagia Sophia behind.
We are staying at a basic but adequate hotel in Sultanamet (http://www.historiahotel.com/) which is in the main tourist area. The best bit about the room is that it has a balcony from which we can see the sea, old houses and a fetching minaret (I did think it was fetching before it woke us up with the call to prayer at 6am). 

View from Balcony of offending Minaret

Unfortunately the airconditioning in the room keeps packing up which requires a call to reception for them to "reset the black box" which is all very puzzling but seems to work.
So after a typical Turkish breakfast of water melon, cucumber, olives and a boiled egg we set of to explore. We walked around a bit along side of the Topaki park and through Gulhane Park. There we stopped for Turkish tea and admired the view over the Bosphorus. The temperature is in the low 30s and ok in the shade but it is very sweaty to walk round in.

Looking back at Haiga Sophia

We then walked over to the Grand Bazaar in which we got lost. Sadly we can only buy things that we can consume as we are both on total weight limit with our suitcases. With this in mind we stopped in the Bazaar for a panini which was really just cheese on toast.

In the Grand Bazaar - we cant buy anything!!

Hm Turkish Paninis mean cheese on toast - nice though!!

 After finding our bearings (well done Chris for accurate map intrepretation) we visited the Blue Mosque. The modesty police made me wear a shawl which made me even sweatier. However inside it was amazing particularly the tiles.

Another minaret this time attatched to Blue Mosque

Very impressed with the tiles

Looking up at the ceiling in Blue Mosque

If you have not visisted Istanbul it really is an amazing place. It is totally safe with so many amazing places to see and a fantastic atmosphere. In the evenings there are loads of friendly open air restaurants and it only took 3 hours to get here from London.