Istanbul, last day

On our last day in Istanbul, we decided to take a little cruise around the Bosphorus - around the Golden Horn, and then up the waterway so Europe was on our left, Asia on our right. The weather forecast was for a nice day, so we thought we'd be in for a lovely day. It turned out to be very hazy and overcast, and colder and windier than I'd hoped, but it was still fine. We were cruising around the Bosphorus! How bad could that be. And it was lovely, until this gang of loud obnoxious Swiss girls parked themselves on the rail in front of us, blocking our view and our ability to hear the tour guide. Still. Cruising around the Bosphorus. (and p.s., the day after Obama announced that our government had killed bin Laden.)

Look at the old fortress and walls -- lots of that kind of thing lying about

I don't know anything about it, but look at that cool mosque in the middle of Istanbul -- four sides with giant windows below the dome.

This was the Egyptian embassy, as far as I could hear. There are lots of these fancy, huge, ornate buildings along the Bosphorus.

The cruise stopped at this lighthouse, though we never could figure out why. It was the only place we stopped, it was close to the end, the view wasn't anything special, nor was there anything special about the lighthouse. hmmm.

Marc, getting sunburned on the cruise.

Istanbul Modern -- I don't know what that is. OH...I learned that if a mosque has two minarets, it was built by the Sultan.

This was a gorgeous mosque right on the banks of the Bosphorus, next to the 2nd bridge.

Mosques and cranes - modern Istanbul.

I could've used one more day in Istanbul. I didn't get to see the Basilica Cistern, and I didn't get to see the Whirling Dervishes, which I wanted to see. One more day would've done it. But Istanbul is a wonderful city, filled with Turkish Delights of all kinds....and not just the candies. Which I enjoyed.