Istanbul (Not Constantinople) Pt. 2

Every morning we would climb the stairs to the rooftop cafe of the hostel and eat our free breakfast while looking out onto the Bosphorous, where apparently, if you looked hard enough, you could see dolphins swimming around. Guess we didn't look hard enough. Though the food was nothing extravagant, we were pretty excited about it because neither of us had experienced a free breakfast while staying at a hostel before. One morning we were so excited that we ate 10 rolls between us with jam and butter.

We spent most of our time wandering around and shopping. Or should I say haggling. To be quite honest, by the time our stay in Istanbul was nearing its end, we were both ecstatic never to have to haggle again. For the near future anyhow. Fixed prices - what luxury!

Here we are descending into the depths of the Spice Bazaar, where if you pause, hesitate for just a moment or happen to make the briefest eye contact with one of the merchants, you will be sorry.

Pausing long enough to take photographs in the Spice Bazaar is a daring feat in and of itself.

Later, while eating baklava, we came across a concert of sorts. There was a healthy amount of belly-dancing and Turkish-flag-waving by a tiny, adorable old man.

While wandering, we came across what we thought - mistakenly - to be the Blue Mosque, so we put on headscarves, took off our shoes and went inside. It was virtually empty and we realized that the Blue Mosque is most definitely never empty. And also that almost every mosque in Istanbul is modeled after the Blue Mosque. Nevertheless, being the only ones inside was a beautiful, breathtaking experience. The carpet was soft and cool to our bare feet.

Sometimes at night we would hang out in the rooftop cafe and check our emails or order apple tea. The whole place reminded me of a treehouse, which made spending time up there even more worthwhile.

Emily doesn't like this photo, but I think its cute. My tan complexion, perpetual lack of shoes and relaxed plaid button-down shirt all made me look Australian apparently. I lost track of how many people inquired as to whether I was Australian or not.

Night-time Bosphorous.