Turkish Delight - Welcome to Istanbul

While Chad was blogging like a madman during our overnight at London Heathrow (and while I wasn't desperately trying to sleep on the hard, cold floor), I was reading up madly on Istanbul to get geared up for our time in Turkey.  The Lonely Planet says the following: "... this marvelous metropolis is an exercise in sensory seduction like no other."  After three days here, it is apparent that the Lonely Planet and I agree.

The word I used to describe how I feel about Istanbul to Chad is actually "pleasing".  I am pleased by everything around me: the sights, the sounds, the smells.  My neck is sore from craning it every second we are not in our guesthouse to look at my fascinating surroundings.  I am constantly stepping into holes - and traffic - as I wander around taking in everything there is to see.

But with that, I must say that it is late and we are getting up early to head to Canakkale, so just a few pictures for now.  We took over 300 (yes, seriously) in our two and a half days here and none of them really capture how awesome it is.  But here's a few shots from our time here, in no particular order.

A night shot of the Aga Sofia courtesy of Chad's steady hands.  While he took shots, I ate a bunch of fresh watermelon and admired the equally beautiful and lit up Blue Mosque.  Amazing.

Some of the many bins of nuts on display at the Spice Market.  The Turks love nuts - especially, it seems, walnuts and pistachios.  Nutty dishes and snacks abounds.  Good luck with that, me.

Lovely, lit up dome in the Hippodrome.  A gift from the Germans.

The Blue Mosque as seen from inside the Aga Sofia.  Wait until you see the inside!

Chilling with (okay, near) the many, many fishermen (and only men) along the Bosphorus.

Ataturk was keen to welcome us to Istanbul.  He is everywhere!

A fish sandwich off the boat under the Galata Bridge and some pickles to go with.  Some people drink the pickle juice to go with their sandwich.  Thankfully for Chad's blood pressure, he did not.

As we spent hours cruising up and down the Bosphorus today, it became clear how huge Istanbul is.  Twenty million people live here - 2/3 as many as live in all of Canada!  Here's a shot from along the way.

And that's about as much energy as I can muster for blogging tonight.  I hope more pictures from Istanbul will follow, but I'm not making any promises.  Tomorrow we head for the North Aegean coast, more adventure, and hopefully some relaxation.