Today was the day to see all the major tourist sites. We got an early start as I had booked a private guide for the day, whom we were to meet at 0830. Gözde was going into the city to work so she arranged with her work driver to drop her off at work and then proceed to drive us into the old city to our meeting spot. All good until we had barely started when the traffic backed up. Badly. And stayed that way. Thank goodness she has an amazing driver. I would never want to attempt that here. They drive like maniacs and use lane markers as barely a suggestion. How there aren’t more accidents I’ll never know. I texted our guide to let him know we were running late, but so was he! Eventually we met up and began the tour.

I found in Italy how valuable a private guide was. They know everyone and every trick and we get a personalized tour, being able to easily ask questions and to be able to hear the answers.

Kazım, our guide, had a van pick us up and drive us to the main area. We then walked a ways, seeing several historical columns before heading to the Blue Mosque. It’s not that it’s blue on the outside but refers to the indoor tiles. But first we pulled out headscarves prior to approaching the mosque. Then when we were close enough to enter, we removed our shoes, finding shelves to place them. The building is striking in its beauty. Tiles everywhere, the darker blue being the oldest ones with the replacement ones being more turquoise, supposedly being more in tune with Turkey. The arches, the stained glass windows, the beauty just resonated. They even had decorated ostrich eggs hanging from the light fixtures. Apparently they emanate an odor that only insects can smell and it keeps them out when the doors are mostly open.

We retrieved our shoes and then headed to the Tokapi Palace. It’s vast, with the many buildings and huge courtyards. We spent hours going through the buildings, learning so much Turkish history. Even Josie learned about Harems, concubines and eunuchs. We saw where the Sultan resided as well as the harem, the guards and collections from arms, clothing, dishes and jewelry.

After all that we were famished so we walked out to find a local restaurant Kazım suggested for having vegetarian fare to suit me. As we were eating Gulgun joined us, much to the delight of us all.

Once replenished we were off once again. Kazım had us enter a carpet collective so we could learn about Turkish carpets. Not only did we view many, with one more beautiful than the next, but I had the opportunity to try to knot a silk rug. Not quite the same as my weaving. The next stop was the Grand Bazaar. And grand it is. We barely cracked the surface of the place but at least got a feel for all that’s sold. Again we were given the opportunity to learn about some of the many kinds of scarves available, different potteries and jewelry from native stones.

Once through we made our way to the Hagia Sofia, a mosque with quite the unusual pedigree going from a Christian church to a mosque with many iterations over the centuries. It’s under some much needed repair with scaffolding outside and in, but we were allowed on the second floor to view the interior.

And finally we went to the Basilica Cistern. Now that was a fascinating place! It was made by the Romans centuries ago but then not used for over 600 years. It’s now been restored and is beautiful and unusual.

And that ended our guided tour. We said our farewells to Kazım and headed for the tram. This one to us back to the Bebek area for another boat tour. Took us some doing to find the boat, but we even got Gulgun on board with us. We had yet another great trip on the Bosporus, seeing some of the same area as the day prior, but also some new places, all while enjoying wine and snacks. Best of all was the sunset.