Istanbul - Day 4

Suleymaniye Mosque, as seen from the Galata bridge which crosses the Golden Horn. We had dinner on the bridge at a fish restaurant where the manager made a very solid effort to convince us to eat there! No regrets. The bridge has two levels, the top level where traffic and pedestrians go, while the bottom level is filled with restaurants of all kinds, facing both directions.

Today we grabbed the tram and then a funicular to the third and final neighborhood of Istanbul, the European neighborhood, on the north side of the Golden Horn. We walked and explored the streets, relaxing and enjoying the culture of this place. We climbed Galata tower, where we got to appreciate the panoramic views over all of Istanbul. The mosques with their minarets stand out, not unlike spires. Like I mentioned in this entry from Sao Paolo, "no matter how many panoramic views I've seen of metropolis' around the world, every single one still manages to amaze me, damn!"

We then crossed the Galata bridge (from where we caught sight of some dolphins) and headed back to the Spice Market, to visit it properly this time and buy some stuff. Suleymaniye Mosque was particularly nice to visit, as it was relatively empty compared to most mosques. With an hour or so to kill before a show we'd booked in for, we stopped at a shisha cafe for some rose-flavored shisha (my sister's choice, I was more keen on melon, even though rose ended up being pretty delicious)! They like rose-flavored stuff here, its not bad. After, we went to watch a dervish priest performance. Impressive! Those guys spin around and round and round endlessly, in some sort of trance with their eyes closed. Not what you'd expect from a typical dance, but amazing nonetheless. Finally, we hit the aforementioned restaurant for food after searching for a while, before heading back to the hotel suitably exhausted!

peace