Touristing Again

For once Stephanie and I both had a lazy morning!  On Friday we left the apartment around 10:30 and rode to the tourist district dominated by the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque.  On the first bus, I settled against a window, feeling very cool as I read and stood on a moving vehicle.  Then a guy got on and screamed at the bus driver.  He starting shoving him, and a couple guys tried to get in the middle and stop him.  Everyone else on the bus was staring and tsking, but he wouldn't stop freaking out.  At the next stop Stephanie and I got off to avoid any potential problems and rode the tram instead.

When we finally got to one of the cultural centers of the world, where did we go?  Shopping.  Which turned out great, because we got everything on our to-buy lists, and the guy who helped us gave us okay deals because Stephanie spoke Turkish with him.

Then we went to Starbucks, grabbed bread at a street vendor, and sat in a park to eat.  There were cats lounging around everywhere, and I found it hard to concentrate on our conversation, because I kept wanting to watch them and coo over their cuteness.  To my ever-living joy, other Turks and tourists were the same.  They took pictures of the cats, fed them, and petted them.  I tossed my bread to some cats, and Stephanie did too.  I'm so proud of her.

We went to the Cisterns to fulfill my tourist quota.  It was like descending into the Mines of Moria!  A cave of pillars with walkways and some lamps to light your way.  There was also a booth where you could dress up Ottoman style and get your picture taken.  After some embarrassingly gleeful debate, Stephanie and I agreed to do it. We were dressed (me in red, Stephanie in green--how did they know our Hogwarts sorting, oh my gosh) and seated.  A woman adjusted our outfits and told us how to hold our scarves to our faces.  It was hilarious and awesome.

We planned on buying just one copy, but when we got to the counter, that changed.  The guy was super cute, trying to convince us to buy the CD so we would have all the pictures.  We said no, we only wanted one picture, and as he was printing it, he offered both the print and the CD for the price of the CD alone.  We consented, and he grinned, "I win!"

We reemerged into daylight and ate lunch at the delicious corner restaurant where we ate with our team three years ago.  I had my last doner wrap and elma chai.  Since it was still early and we were done, we took a ferry to Asia and got juice at our juice bar again. The fast ferry returned us to Europe and eventually back to the apartment.

Vonda made a delicious dinner and Emily made a delicious dessert.  I can see why Stephanie likes them so much.  We watched Stardust while we ate, then spent the rest of the evening doing whatever.  We went to bed around midnight, and had to wake up at 3:15 in order to get to the airport in time for my flight.  Urgh.