Day 27 Saturday 7/09 Istanbul 27 deg Sunny -

Enid here…Very late night so a bit of a slow start straight into the main area of the city Sultanahmet where the blue mosque is, the tram ride was about 20 mins and very easy to do very friendly people with lots of good help and advice. We went on the hop on off bus tour for about 2 hours the traffic was incredible and so was the scenery. We saw the Topkapi Palace and the main square Taksim also along the old city wall all the market gardens were set up the heights and sites of the mosques and other buildings were a great wonder. At the end we went into the blue mosque and it was very beautiful and so intricate in all the patterns of tiles and the colours in the glass. We then went to the Grand Bazaar along the way many shops and people on the streets. The shops carried wears of pashminas cashmere silk leather and the beautiful coloured glazed plates etc etc also the kebab shops and cake shops. Our dinner was a lovely mixed plate and flat bread and then a variety of fresh fish. We had booked a boat cruise for sunset and night to take in the night lights on the harbour and take in the cross from Europe to Asia along the Golden Horn and Bosphorus so beautiful and very lucky to have such good weather. Into the cake shop, to sample the Turkish delight and baklava with our coffee very tasty. So great to experience such a different city and country.