Istanbul

Larry had gotten a really bad cold and this day he felt too sick to go ashore.  We were going to do a DIY so I met up with a large group that were going to at least start out together.  I adopted Leonie, Bev & Grahame for the day although I almost lost them at the Hagia Sophia.

Since we needed Turkish lira, the only country we went to that didn't use Euros, the first stop for everyone was the ATM machine.  Then we took the tram to where all the sights were.  We didn't venture to any of the demonstration areas.  In fact, we were told to stay away from that part of town and we didn't need to be told twice.

We went to the Blue Mosque where we had to cover our heads and remove our shoes. 

If someone didn't have a head covering, something was provided and there were plastic bags for carrying shoes also available.

The Blue Mosque

Hagia Sophia Museum

 We went to the Cistern which was really interesting and nice and cool too.

                                                I was so surprised to see fish in the water.

                                                  And of course, a little commercialism

The Spice Market and Grand Bazaar were also on our self made tour.

By then we had walked so much, we got back on the Tram and didn't realize how far we would have to walk from where we got off just to get back on the ship.  We got our exercise that day for sure.

When I got back Larry went with me to get something to eat and he was feeling good enough to go to the show too which featured marionettes.  When was the last time you saw a marionette show?

Just a note - I'm too addicted to the bread pudding at Raffles (the buffet restaurant).  My meals are mainly healthy, hardly any points except for bread pudding and mini scones with jam and cream!

I need to find a bread pudding recipe.