Sunday in Istanbul, Near and Far

Woke up this morning and listened to the call to prayer before heading out. The neighborhood I'm in everyone talks bad about, saying it's boring and this and that, but the buildings here are so nice. Every building has a little garden around it, some actually have a sort of bridge leading from the sidewalk to the building. The stones and walkways are covered with lichen and the gardens are full of roses. I walked up to work, just to see if anyone was hanging around or if there was anything for me to do, but sunday morning isn't in the cards for these people. Heading back I picked up a large roll topped with nuts for one million Turkish lira, about 75 cents. The thing was huge and more than made a full breakfast. Comming back I snapped a picture of a hill next to the one I live on.



Today was also my first real sight seeing day. Of corse the fog had to be thick as pea soup (I swear, this place is just like SF, all hills and drizzling rain.) But I headed out, first to Bacheshire and then across the Bosphorous to the Asian side of Istanbul. The ferries are large (three levels) and actually serve food and drink onboard. I walked around a bit, got a fish sandwich, fresh off the fishing boat, and then hopped back on the ferry and came home. Normally this would seem boring, right? Well, the boat ride takes you past this,



On the Right is Hagia Sophia and the left is the Blue Mosque. I will get better pictures when the weather improves. And hopefully my next excursion around town will lead me into the old city. Take me back to Constantinople...