First day in Istanbul:


I was woken sometime around dawn by the call to prayer. The hostel's sandwiched between three big mosques, and I sleep on the roof, so I'm usually woken up a few hours before I'm ready.



An hour or two later, I managed to really wake.



About half those bunks are occupied at night. Now, they're all eating breakfast downstairs.



This street is pretty good. Every hour or so (during the day) a pickup truck drives down carrying cans of gas. It plays a really catchy song.

Something like: Dun du duuuuh dah dooooooOOOOoooooo doh

I'm not sure why it plays music.



Street level, where very short women bring us tea (or coffee), bread, and veggies.



I figure we'll go see tourist type stuff in the morning, then do stuff I like in the afternoon.

Cool?

'K. Our first stop, a somewhat unimpressive entrance to the very impressive Topkapi Palace:



This is the outer garden. Very laid back, like much of Istanbul.



AKA "Gift Shop"



I like models.



We've past through the first courtyard, and are currently in the fancier gardens. This is where the king kept his harem, and a special room built for circumcision ceremonies.

Also, deformed trees.



The bridge between two of Istanbul's sections.



I was standing right next to that circumcision chamber when I took this photo. Can't believe I missed taking a picture of the murals inside.

I have nightmares about those murals.



One more picture before I leave:



We have reached the outer gardens, home of 17 million Japanese tourists.

They're really cute - like that scene in 101 Dalmations where more puppies keep showing up in random places.



Oh. I guess most of the people up there were European tourists. Not really so cute, more along the lines of "please stop being so goddamn smug about your trendy sneakers. Also, your bags are stupid."

Anyway. After the palace, I went walking towards a more modern section of Istanbul. I got lost between the million streets that look like the one below.



I eventually figured out where I was. For my exceptional daring, I awarded myself the "pathfinder" merit badge and a sammich.



From there, I walked in the general direction of a bridge to the city's modern section.

Then I saw a cool mosque.



With a tomb next to it!

An indoor tomb!



Taking pictures might have been a bit rude.

Anyway, after defiling some graves, it was pigeon o'clock.



Then walking across the bridge pictured.

There's at least 100 old people fishing off each side. They sell their catches to the restaurants below, where they are grilled and sold to tourists at outrageous prices.



I got to the other side safely, and started wandering towards the tall glass buildings.

Then I got distracted by this awesome street.

As far as attention spans go, me and the pigeons have a lot in common.



There was a tower at the top, which turned out to be another popular tourist attraction, so I climbed it.



If there is a stone wall, dogs will sleep against it.



Shleepy dog.






And those tall buildings are where I'm walking to.



A pirate!

It's good to know that people are still civilized in Turkey.



I finally reached the base of Taksim (the modern district) Hill.



Walk walk walk.

My boots started falling apart halfway through. Seriously.



Resting in the park.

Pretty good, but no Hyde, Central, or even Piedmont.



Sweet mother of mercy. Someone alert G8 and G-Dub.



Through clever detective work, I eventually discover the culprit:



I would have taken more building pictures, but they weren't too impressive.

Instead, check out this wheel!

They use it to lower trains from the Taksim hill into the rest of Istanbul.



From the train down, it's a short tram ride across the water into Sultanahamet, where I'm staying.



A Narc, with his dog. They're both pretty sleepy.



Back home, I walk past the Blue Mosque into my neighborhood. The Hagia Sofia is right behind me.



Mavi Guesthouse.

If you're ever in Istanbul, stay here. The owner's super-nice.



I mess around with email, read a bit, and take a nap.



Then one of the hostel employees offers to take us to his neighborhood Turkish Bath, so we all share a cab down.



They take the two dames to a seperate bath.



Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any pictures inside the bath. I figured it might look sort of strange, wearing nothing but a towel and a camera.

But! If you get a chance to experience a good traditional Turkish bath, you should. If only for the architecture. The ceilings of that place were huge vaulted things, and everything was covered in marble and etched designs. Very cool.

Also, everyone who worked there looked like the guy on the left. Except the masseurs were bigger.

Anyway. After the bath, a big hairy guy pushed me into a little room and told me "you sleep ten minutes". I said "okay".



Dinner.

From left to right:

French girl whose name I forget, Catalan girl whose name I forget, French guy whose name I forget, and Turkish guide whose name I forget.

(but they're all completely awesome)



Too dark to take many pictures on the way back.



This machine shop was tucked away in what looked like an old cistern.



Finally, I got home and headed straight to bed. These two pictures were taken from my bunk:





Goodnight internet. I've gotta go practice the Turkish words for "you are very beautiful", "I love you", and "In America I have many skyscapers".