Along the Straight-Away

We were wrong, the bridge that we went over yesterday did not take us to Asia. That bridge only took us to the other side of the river. The bridge that actually goes to Asia is much larger and more organized. But to get to Asia today, we took the tram and a ferry. Which was quite great, even though the other side looked exactly the same.

This morning when we got up, we ate breakfast and then went to the Blue Mosque. All three of us were given wrap around skirts to wear, and Mum and I were given shawls to cover our shoulders. Inside of the mosque is was quite impressive. The line up outside was even greater. The beginning of the line was an old doorwas, it then went around the corner and then half of the length of the mosque. It then went up a set or stair and around another corner, then through a low tunnel, Dad had to duck his head. After taking our shoes off and putting them in bags, we entered the mosque. There were about three tour groups in the mosque, so it was a little packed. We took alot of pictures and it was very cool.

We went for a walk behind the mosque towards the Hippodrome, but we didn't go in. Instead we went to the cistern. When we joined the short line outside, we had no idea what it was going to be like, there were no pictures, only a sign that said Cistern. Once we went down the stairs we saw what is was all about, the seiling was really high, and the columns supporting it were huge. It was dark, so we didn't get that many pictures, but we did get some good ones. In one end of the cistern there were two carvings of Medusa, they ere amazing. There was also a strange group of hanging sculptures.

This afternoon we went for a boat cruise of the Bosphorous, about an hour and a half, no stops. We had to wait on the boat for about forty-five minutes for it to leave. All ove the hills there are huge Turkish flags flying in the wind, you can see them from a long ways away.

This evening we took a ferry over to the Asian side of Istanbul, we walked around a market, selling all sorts of food. We had chicken and lamb in a three story little restaurant, it was very good. When it was time for us to go home, we took the ferry, but we went to the wrong stop so we had to walk for a while. We caught the tram back to the Blue Mosque, and walked from there to out hotel. We are sitting up on the high terrace of our hotel, in the distance we can see the fireworks, celebrating somethine. It is the 4th of July today, but nobody here is celebrating.

Post again soon.

Love, Laura