We left Vancouver on June 28th, flying Air Canada to London and the Turkish Airways to Istanbul, arriving on June 29th. The flight was of course long and we slept for maybe 4 hours so jet lag was an issue when we landed. We checked into the Faros Hotel, had a quick bite to eat, then hit the sack.
We awoke June 30th around 9:00am feeling much better but still a little jet laged. After a nice Turkish breakfast we headed out to see the Blue Mosque. Along the way we met a very nice fellow named Mehmet who volunteered to give us a private tour (he obviously saw us coming from a mile away). He spent the better part of a couple hours showing us all the details and history of the mosque and took lots of pictures of us.
After the private tour, Mehmet introduced us to his cousin Murat (here it comes) who took us to his carpet store where we were treated to Turkish coffee and apple tea. After explaining some of the history of carpets, his staff started rolling out rugs for our viewing. We wound up selecting two carpets which are now on their way back to Canada and should be there when we get back.
After, Mehmet took us to Hagia Sophia which was originally built in 360AD as a church, then later was converted to a mosque, and now is a museum. There was a huge lineup to get tickets but Mehmet said not to worry and within five minutes we had our tickets and were at the front of the line.
We ended the day will a great dinner outdoors and finished just in time for the rain to start. Well I guess that made us feel a bit a home.
