İstanbul'dan döndüm

Got back from Istanbul early this morning. Was a pretty lazy trip. Once you have been to the historical sites its tough to have the motivation to find something to do, even though the city is full of sites to see... Anyways, hers a few pictures from the weekend.

We took the night train from Ankara. Got to the train station on the Asian side around 730am. Took a ferry to Europe. On the way, I got splashed by a wave, so my shoes and bottom of my pants were wet all day. And now my shoes smell really bad.

You can see three of the major sites in Istanbul in this picture. The farthest mosque is the Blue Mosque, the next is Hagia Sophia, and then Topkapı Palace

On Friday, while the new kids were on a tour, we old hats decided to go hang out in the gardens between the Blue Mosque and Ayasofya. So we look to our left and see the Blue Mosque...

Then look to the right and see Ayasofya.

Pretty amazing location to hang out.

Or to dig for dandelion roots - whatever your pleasure

I've been in there twice, now, soon to be three times.

Yeh, its alright...

One of the nice things about Istanbul is there is a lot of green and scenery even though its a huge city. It also seems to have a bigger variety of animals - like cranes. You can sort of see them at the top of the tree.

This was an art exhibit in the metro station. This the Ottoman symbol.

Its made from nails and wire.

Pretty neat

This sword belonged to Fatih Sultan Mehmet the Conquerer of Istanbul

Asia

Big ship with Asia in the background

Big ole bridge

Galata Tower

Oh and in case you are wondering, I was told that Ali's famous sword, the one that is divided so it looks kind of like a snake tongue, is not at Topkapı Palace. Either the sword itself, or the fact that its still around, or the fact that its housed at Topkapı palace is a rumor. Or maybe all three...Not completely sure.

Class tomorrow....:(