Day two in Old Istanbul

 Another cold and overcast day met us as we got up in time to see the sun rise.  After a buffet breakfast overlooking the beautiful sea, our guide Emel met us and we were off.

Our first stop was the Bascilica Cistern.  At street level this is just an undeveloped area of ruins.  There was one eroded column that Emel explained was the marker for the centre meridian of the world at that time as Constantinople (now Istanbul) was part of the Roman Empire and was on the Spice Route.  Thus, the expression "All roads lead to Rome" referred to this marker.

We proceeded down a set of stairs to discover a vast underground reservoir which was built to collect water from a forest 19 km away via aquaducts.  This cistern is the size of a cathedral with 336 huge marble and granite recycled columns.  Two of these have carvings of Medusa's head and a statue of Medusa was recently placed close by and casts an eerie shadow on the wall.  Overall the cistern was an impressive sight!

Next on our itinerary was a visit to the very beautiful Yani Cami Mosque.  This mosque has many tiled surfaces making it different from the others we have seen.

We then made our way to the spice market which was close by.  This has been the location where spices have been bought and sold through the ages.  It is a huge L-shaped building with many, many vendors inside.

Paul was having considerable trouble with his knee and so we opted for a boat ride down the Bosphorus.  We saw one of the Sultan's palaces as we made our way.

And we went under the three bridges and saw some beautiful villas dating back to the Ottoman emire as well as a fortress which was built to protect Istanbul from invadors.

This boat ride gave us a break from walking and we decided to.take a break for a late lunch.  The restaurant we choose had a magnificent view.

We made our way then to the final stop of the day, the Süleymaniye Mosque.  This is another mosque with unique features.  I was amazed to see.that Ostrach eggs were hung from the chandeliers, which apparently keep spiders away! As well as the wonderful architecture there were sculptures of stars over the exterior doors which, when viewed from beneath looked like Owls.  This is apparently because the local custom is to post an owl over the front door to prevent real ones from arriving and bringing bad luck.

We had noticed that there are stray cats and dogs everywhere.  Apparently these animals are vaccinated and the locals provide food for them.  Outside this mosque, Paul made feiends with one of these (of course)!

As it was getting late we called it a night, grabbed a cab and made our way back to the hotel.