So after checking out Sultanahmet and then Beyoglu, we were back in the Sultanahmet district. I had changed my haircut, forgoing the shave for some hair. I had forgotten that hair requires product (gel or mousse). This became a pain (I didn't have any), so I decided to go back to the shave.
Here is the place I went...IMAJ.
The barber, who was about 18, also gave me a shave, which I was not expecting. It was quite smooth using the straight razor. He had some Euro Tecno music going. About half way through he started smoking a cigarette. He had an ash tray on each side of me. He knocked some ash on the counter. He was in the process of wiping the hair off my neck, so he conveniently reached over and used the brush to wipe the ash on the floor. Then he went back to wiping the hair off my neck. It was actually a nice haircut, but a classic Turkey experience.
After the haircut we headed out on a walk for a church and a mosque outside of the main tourist areas northwest of the Grand Bazaar. Here is a Roman Acqeduct that we found.
In a park near the Acqueduct there was a group of about 10 chickens. This rooster was crowing away.
Here I am in a bakery near the Fatih Mosque.
We saw some cool signs along the way.
Two Smiling Faces
Our search for the Church of the Pammakaristos brought us into one the more conservative areas of the city.
The vendor let Kristi try one of these treats for free. The area was conservative, but still relatively friendly.
We finally found the first church on our journey (3 hours later it was a journey, not a walk). The Church of Pammakaristos is a hidden secret of Istanbul. I think its location may have something to do with that. I'm pretty sure we were the first people there all day. The guy working the gate gave me my change out of his own pocket.
Location aside it did have some cool mosaics.
Church of Pammakaristos
Church of Pammakaristos
Church of Pammakaristos
The final destination was the Church of St Saviour in Chora which was next to the Kariye Hotel. About a block from the Hotel I told Kristi that she might be bringing me to the sketchiest hotel I've ever stayed at in Turkey. She assured me that it would be great.
When we got there the room was pretty good, but nothing great. We dropped off our stuff and went to the Church. It had some of the best mosaics and frescos that we saw.
Church of St Saviour in Chora fresco
Church of St Saviour in Chora fresco
Church of St Saviour in Chora mosaics
Church of St Saviour in Chora mosaics
The book we had had a clear layout of what each mosaic represented.
Here is what the book showed for the room. Our room was about half that so we decided to head back to the Beyoglu and stay in a place with "fluffy pillows". We ended up picking the Hilton, so we hailed a taxi and were off.
As we headed back, we passed back under the Acqueduct.
Right after crossing the Golden Horn.
After dropping off our stuff at the Hilton, we headed back to the Fish Market and our favorite restaurant. This was a fish casserole which was awesome.
This is an attempt to make an Irish Coffee with Nescafe.
Two "Oregon" CDs.
The view from our room in the Hilton...
Bosphorous
Bosphorous
The Hilton had an superb breakfast buffet. I treated myself to a couple of portions of their great bacon. It is a little difficult to get good bacon on the base and especially in Adana.
We decided to walk down to the Dolmahbace Palace before we checked out and headed to the airport. I saw this setup in one of the parks. At the time I had no clue what it was. I read something yesterday that it was targets for an airgun that the "vendor/bum" set up.
Here are a couple of pictures of the Gondola which was part of Istanbul's public transportation. I thought it was for tourists, but it was mostly college kids on it.
Here is the entrance to Dolmahbace Palace. We were running low on time, so we didn't take the guided tour. We had coffee in a cafe instead.
We took a few more pictures of us on the Bosphorous.
Bosphorous looking North
Bosphorous looking South
After that we stopped in at the Spice Market to get some pistachios for Kristi's dad (he asked for 2 lbs and got 2 kg!) and a coffee grinder. I wanted to try some caviar, but they wouldn't let me taste and 35 YTL is a bit much just to taste. Maybe next time.
Here were are at the terminal before we departed for our flights.
It was an awesome trip full of sites and culture. Now that I know the area a little better, hopefully I'll be able to meet some of my friends and family there and show them around.
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