Today was my last full day and I had planned to goto the Prince's Islands 20km in the Sea of Marmara. Last night there was light drizzle and overnight it had turned to heavy rain

I was supposed to leave early to try to get the 10am ferry but the rain was coming so hard I didn't think it would be worth it today. I stayed in the room as it was colder just watching stuff on my laptop

After 10am there was knocking on my door. The cleaning lady was trying to say I had to change rooms which is what they had told me when I booked in that I couldn't keep the room for four nights as they had prior reservations

She was almost rushing me in a panic and grabbing my stuff and taking it so I kept trying to tell her to hold on and I'll do it. Then she saw my change and kept asking for 'baksheesh' (tip). I was lucky I'd already put my wallet and cash in my pocket before I let her in incase anything went missing and that I was home when they came in case they moved all my stuff when I wasn't there

The first room had a double bed so I was sleeping with the case on one corner of the bed as there wasn't enough room for all my luggage. The new room had a single bed but was still cramped. There weren't enough plugs this time so I had to hang my alarm clock from the flat screen cables overhead.

By noon I was hungry and fedup of sitting in the room. The rain seemed to have stopped and I didn't pay all this money to come to Istanbul after so many years just to sit in the room on my last day. Who knows when I'll be back

I wanted to get some lunch and just stay local in case the rain hits hard again. I went to the usual restaurant on the street by the hotel I've been going to. I ordered a leg of chicken with potatoes and a side plate of halva. This time the total was only 5TL ($2.50) compared to 8.5TL yesterday. And lets not forget the bus station charging me 20TL for half as much food

Some of the bazaar vendors were now open after being closed for two days. I haven't been praying and since I had the day to kill when the midday prayer call was being made I went into the New Mosque by the Spice Bazaar to pray there. After prayers they all started singing verses in chorus again

I was wondering the back streets of Sultanhamet and found a place with some tombs I'd never seen before. In Sultanhamet there were massive lines for both the Basilica Cistern and the Haga Sophia which had both reopened today after two days closed. When I had visited on my last trip there were no lines

I wandered thru the Arasta Bazaar which was all open today and found the place where I had bought my rug in 2005. There was also a Uyghar restaurant from Turkestan but I couldn't match any of the dishes to what I had ate there (Samsa, lagman)

Then on the main tram street is a building I've always passed by on my last two trips but never went in. It actually houses the tombs of several of the Sultans. I guess having more time today I was going into a lot more places I normally didn't and discovering so much I'd missed on previous trips

Next was a courtyard of pipe smokers I'd also never seen before. More buildings here are undergoing restoration. I actually prefer some of the aged buildings which shows more history to the city than if they are all shiny new looking

The Grand Bazaar was still closed so I wandered the side streets which were slowly opening up looking at some of the vendors. I sort of made my way to the Sulimaniye Mosque which is the majestic icon on the landscape

Inside it was more impressive that what I had remembered in 2005. But it seems it has been refinished on the inside too as it didnt look as aged as last time. I think with their restoration they are putting too much emphasis on making things look shiny and are losing some of the original chracteristics

As I made my way down to Eminonu there was another prayer call so I jumped into another restored mosque. Again after prayers they started changing prayers in chorus together which I've only seen in Turkish Mosques

This seemed to be remodelled on the inside with no original features. I've been to enough old churches to know what restored art looks like and this all looked like brand new art wiping out the original features

Wandering thru the bazaar streets I was looking for baklava to buy for my family. I found another Mosque I would have never noticed in normal times. This had beautiful blue ceramic tiles inside

Finally I wanted to get a haircut as there are many barbers on the local street where my hotel is. At first I didnt undersand what their prices were as it was written in Turkish. It looked like 4TL ($2) so I tried asking someone. He told me 6TL which is still only $3 so I said ok

After cutting my hair he gave me a shampoo and wash which I didnt ask for so I didnt know how much they were going to add this time. It was only 6TL so 4TL for the cut and 2TL for the wash which is what was written outside.

Its too bad the weather was **** today but it leaves a trip to the Prince's Islands for next time in good weather. I didnt realize most things would be shut for the Eid holiday so maybe celebrating Eid in Muslim countries is not such a good idea as the same just happened in Malaysia

I fly home tomorrow and actually turned down two solid job offers to teach in Turkey for Sept 1 to do the Celta training course which ended up being a completely ridiculous experience.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll be back travelling in Turkey at some point and still looking at teaching jobs, but probably not in Istanbul, which is where I didnt want to teach either.