[/caption]Good morning! Gunaiden! We again arrived first to breakfast. In fact, they didn't have everything set up yet. They said, "You always get up early!" I think that translates to , "Yikes! We're not set up yet!" The yummy sesame bread arrived shortly thereafter.
I'm having trouble uploading photos on this network, so you'll just have to hear my words today.
When Jim and Pat got here yesterday afternoon we walked back up the hill to the Blue Mosque. We saw men washing their feet and faces at water faucets along the outside wall just before prayer. Two muezzims sang back and forth for almost ten minutes.
We went up to a rooftop cafe and had our first taste of Raki (Turkish anise-flavored liqueur) and looked at the skyline of the city. There are over a hundred ships out in the harbor -- many of them Greek. It sounds like they are sitting there waiting out the world-wide recession.
Tulips originated in Turkey. (Who knew?) Thousands of tulips are planted all over Istanbul in March -- they peak in April. We are here at the tail end of the tulip festival, and many are already gone. But lots remain. The colors are wonderful!
We had dinner at yet another rooftop restaurant (everyone has them). Pat and Jan ate sea bream -- a whole fish laying across each of their plates. Jim had tortollini cuatro formaggi (I don't know why he had Italian food -- he said he was carbo loading to have energy for our adventures on Wednesday) and I had a traditional meat and veggie "casserole." Lots of eggplant here.
We heard there was a spring celebration at the beach. We walked with a huge crowd through hilly, winding cobble-stoned streets until we got to the waterfront. (Me in high heeled sandals -- dressed for dinner.) The crowd, very eager and jovial, kept flowing on, but we couldn't see or hear the party. We were not dressed warmly enough, and decided to turn back to the hotel. Are we officially old farts?
And on the way back, we got lost in a little residential neighborhood. The living rooms were five by five. An old woman in slippers sat in her doorway smoking and yelling at young men. I wanted to know what they were saying.
We are going to go for a cruise on the Bosphorous today. That is the channel between the Black sea and the Sea of Marmara -- a is the division between the continents of Asia and Europe. (Did you know that Istanbul is the only city in the world that straddles two continents?) So we will visit the continent of Asia today. Isn't that amazing?
You are sleeping now. I'll try to post pictures before you get up!
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