Turkish Delight

Well, tomorrow is our last day in Istanbul, and while we've only had a short visit, I think we be explored a good bit of the old city.  For a place that's been continuously inhabited for at least 2000 years, it's surprising how few truly ancient landmarks remain (the Hagia Sophia, and a few columns or obelisks are the only things things you see on the surface), but the signs of antiquity underlying everything!  Yesterday we visited one of the best examples of this, a huge underground cistern that was part of Constantinople's water supply system for more than a millennium.  Given that much of the built fabric above ground has been destroyed (by fire, earthquake, or warfare) and rebuilt numerous times, it was amazing to see something like the cistern completely intact!
We've aslao been continuing to visit museums and historical sites, including the Blue Mosque, which is perhaps the best known here, and is clearly a bit of architectural "one-upsmanship" as it sits directly adjacent to the Hagia Sophia ;-)
Finally, today we did a bunch of pure wandering through the maze of narrow streets just seeing what we might stumble onto, and ended up taking a nice little cruise on the Bosphorus to keep warm :-). Getting the waterside view really provides a whole different perspective!
Last but not least, we wrapped up the day with our best and least expensive meal yet - fresh Doner kebap (kind of a Turkish burrito) with fresh squeezed pomegranate juice from a street vendor/cafe for only $12 for the two of us... Yum!

Tomorrow, well wander around Istanbul for awhile, and then head for the airport to fly to Bahrain:-). More soon from there!

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