Today we mostly wandered around, exploring and scouting out things we could do when more people arrived. First we headed past the Hagia Sofia.
Hagia Sofia
(we are saving this adventure for another day)
We arrived at the Hippodrome, which is a square erected in ~200AD to hold sporting events, chariot races, and entertainment. The square contains various monuments, including
The Obelisk of Theodosius
Built in the 1400's BC in Eygpt, this obelisk was brought to Constantinople in the 300's AD. The base of the obelisk was damaged (likely during transit) so only the top ~20m of the original 30m obelisk is on display.
This green serpenty thing that is broken, and a smaller obelisk of something-or-rather
Stray dogs, resting in the square
Toward the end of the square we found a cool tile/pottery gallery and shop, but they did not allow photos. After the square, we found some famous graveyard that housed many former Sultans. There were lots of stray cats roaming the cemetery, including these guys who didn't seem to be showing much respect for Mr. Efendi.
Next, we darted through the grand bazaar. There were many cruise ships in that day, so it was impossible to make it close enough to a shop to see what was inside before getting approached by a shopkeeper who had "the best" something-or-rather in all of Istanbul and/or the world. We escaped the bazaar and wandered to find some lunch, and then stumbled upon this closed shop that apparently sells baked potato flavored ice cream.
Finally, we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap.
Nora's parents arrive just before 7pm, and we had dinner on the top floor balcony restaurant of our hotel. I had an excellent vegetable soup and lamb on a bed of hummus. This hummus was much sweeter than the hummus you would typically use as dip for chips. It was quite tasty. We also saw some small fireworks going off during dinner as it just so happened to be Turkey's independence day. Nora's parents were hilarious, particularly due to their extreme jet lag. Mr Hendrickson told us a very interesting story about how he accidentally got a super-duper video camera w/ a built-in projector, and wicked crazy zoom. Then he ate some mystery dessert, that turned out was Quinse, which, it turns out, he thought he was allergic to, which, it turns out, he isn't. Yep.
See day 2 post for panorama image of the view
Lamb over Hummus
Meet-up
We dropped off the Hendricksons to get some much needed sleep and headed out on the town to meet up with Yaz, Adam, and the African crew. They are a fun, lively bunch... so I think we are in good shape for having a great week. Adam told me a hilarious story about how his niece bought him a catapult (slingshot) so that he could fire rocks at innocent bystanders. I can't wait to meet his niece! =D
Never Trust a Cabby
And lastly, we got ripped off by a cabby who didn't start the meter. Adam was quite upset, because he specifically listed this as rule #5 in our itinerary for how to take a cab. However, he mentioned that we would know the meter was on by some red light in the rear view mirror. This guy's rear view mirror was littered w/ different red lights and numbers, but as we realized half-way to our destination, none of those lights were actually the meter. Upon arrival at the Topkapi Palace (I'm not sure why he took us there, but it was close enough to where we wanted), the cabby would not tell us how much the fare was. He didn't speak a lick of English, but I assumed he'd write down the amount, or at least use his fingers to indicate the cost. I handed him a 10 and got out of the cab, but he started talking a lot louder and more quickly, so I assumed that 10 was not a sufficient amount. I tried to signal w/ my hands to ask how much more, but he just kept speaking Turkish very quickly. I gave him another 10 and he seemed happy. Adam arrived behind us and said his ride was only 10 total. Sneaky cabby!
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