We caught up with Babicka and Brad near the Blue Mosque as they had just arrived in Istanbul from their tour. We found a little rooftop restaurant where we had a drink together before they had to catch up with their tour. It was fun to see them in a cool place like Istanbul. We then had a lovely dinner with such a nice view, it was a great way to wrap up our last day in Istanbul before heading out on the road.
We decided to visit the Kapalı Çarşı or Grand Bazar since it was just up the road from where we were staying. It was very large but not quite what we expected. It was certainly full of shops and people but most of it was enclosed and tiled. Very different to the much more organic and chaotic bazars of Morocco. There were a heap more jewellery shops here and fewer food stalls. It was a pretty place but we preferred the Moroccan versions. The girls found a geocache there though, which was fun.
We walked back from the Hagia Sophia through our neighbourhood and tried to get a little bit lost. We managed to find some really pretty little houses, more mosques and of course heaps of cats. Not too far from our house was a park with a fountain and playground which also had a pretty good cafe where we stopped for dinner. EV had a friend who kept asking for a snack as well while we were there.
We continued walking through the Hagia Sophia and listening to some of its history. It is a bit sad that since becoming a mosque art work and frescos have been stolen or destroyed by the public. It has left the inside looking a bit shabby and the remaining pieces have been put behind glass to protect them. The Hagia Sophia is still an impressive place though and we enjoyed our visit.
We finally managed to visit the inside of the Hagia Sophia and because it is now an active muslim mosque the ladies had to have their heads covered. This annoyed SV as she did not appreciate the subjugation of the patriarchy in enforcing her to wear a head covering while boys were allowed to run around unchecked. Her sense of justice was rightfully upset. KT on the other hand was excited for the visit and celebrated by going all jeans. Once inside the huge mosque/church we admired the size and decorations from the upstairs balcony. Turned out that was the only place the general public is allowed and only practicing muslims are allowed on the ground floor.
We hopped on the metro and made our way into the more modern parts of Istanbul. We were catching up with Uncle Chris again briefly and then we went to a shopping centre to pick up a few things before we go on the road. The shopping centre was interesting in that it was very much like any other we're used to, although one of the shops we first saw in Morocco was there too.
As the sun began to set we crossed the Bosphorus from Asia back into Europe like people have done for millennia. It was really pleasant and TV took some portraits of everyone as we sailed across.
