Day two- Istanbul,Turkey

On day two at Istanbul we woke up, took showers, and headed to the roof's terrace for a typical Turkish breakfast provided by our hotel. It consisted of fresh Sigara Börek-cigar-sized tubes of pastry rolled around feta cheese and parsley, and then deep-fried, cold cuts, yogurt, olives, and raw vegetables along with Turkish coffee or tea. We enjoyed it although the combination of deep fried feta and coffee seemed to have a negative effect on us later... :0 After breakfast we headed over to see what all the hype was over the world renown Grand Bazaar-Kapali Carsi or covered market. This is Turkey's largest covered market said to have over 4000 shops offering beautiful Turkish carpets, glazed tiles and pottery, copper and brassware, apparel made of leather, cotton and wool, meerschaum pipes, glass lamps, an array of belly dancer costumes, and all sorts of other things. Not all of them, by the way, are for tourists; locals shop here as well, lending a welcome dose of authenticity. There are a bunch of restaurants in the bazaar that also allow you to have lunch in the midst of your shopping. Note that the bazaar is closed entirely on Sundays,which is one of the reasons we decided to travel mid-week. The Bazaar was everything we thought it would be and more, to include every Turkish man hassling poor Tom to buy gold, diamonds, or a carpet. In then end, we bought a beautiful hanging lamp, like we saw the night before. Hailey also wanted to shop for a
belly-dancer outfit, which took way too long because she couldn't decide which one would look best on her. After the Grand Bazaar, we got a quick bite to eat, dropped stuff off at the hotel and headed to another local favorite, the Egyptian Spice Bazaar. One of Tom's co-workers told us the Spice Bazaar smelled like nothing we'd ever experienced, and he was right. The blend of spices, to include Iranian Saffron, cumin, peppers,ere more than the nose could take. Another fun part of the Spice Bazaar was stopping at each store to try every owner's unique blend of Turkisk Delight . Of course I know you all remember Turkish delight from "The Chronicals of Narnia". After trying it, I'm not really sure what all the hype was about, that definitely wouldn't have been what I'd ask for from the White Witch. Let's just say I had enough Turkish delight to last me for a lifetime. Believe it or not, the Spice Bazaar wasn't all that big, so we got out of there pretty quickly on the second day, but knew we'd be going back on the final day to make some purchases. .Right outside the Spice Bazaar is a mosque called the Yeni Camii Mosque. It is supposed to have the largest active congregation of Muslims in Istanbul. It was beautiful as you can see by the pictures. Amazingly, it wasn't very crowded, which makes you wonder if Islam for many Muslims is like being Catholic or Jewish (to name a few) to many Americans..."it's more of a cultural thing " instead of being devout and practicing it daily (no slam intended, just an obervation). You can also notice from the pictures that all men, before entering the mosque, needed to thoroughly wash their feet, which to many almost looked as though they were taking a bath. The inside of the mosque was also covered with silk carpet from head to toe. This way no one had to bring their own rug.

It was getting late in the afternoon, so we decided to head over to Taksim Square, which is where we were told was the place to go for good food, shopping, and a host of other things (where the locals go). Like good adventurers, we started asking locals which bus to take,and before you knew it, we were on an overcrowded bus heading across the river. Once we got there, we understood exactly what the locals on the other side of the river were talking about. It was bustling with activity and we knew we'd have a good time. We walked around for awhile just taking it in and of course, Tom wanted to stop for a beer at an outside cafe, were the girls were able to get some fried mozzarella sticks. Also there were Donor Kebab places on every corner.

To the Turks the Doner Kebab is like the hamburger to us. Because we had already had our fair share of doners we decided to be a bit more adventurous and looked for a local hangout. We finally decided on a Turkish cafeteria

filled with local Turks. In the end we ordered way more than our stomachs could handle. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the sign next to us that said, "Smooking Saloon Up Stairs"... Not sure what that was about ... In fact we all were a bit fearful to head upstairs. to get smooked. Hopefully just a poor translation... I would have said it was just a spelling error except there were about 10 signs and they all said the same thing. After that, it was off to the bus and back across the river to our hotel. To cap the night off, we went right around the corner from our hotel to a quaint little restaurant that only sat 16 people. We had some apple and Turkish tea, and Tom needed a "little something sweet" so he ordered some Baklava. All in all, it was a great second day in Turkey, but it was now time to head to bed and get a good start on Day 3.

.