Our last day in Turkey

A beautiful day - cloudless blue sky with a light breeze and low humidity - a perfect day to get out on the water. First stop the Blue Mosque - when we were here last we were I think the only tourists in the mosque at the time. The entire floor was covered with different hand made carpets, and the many stained glass windows shone coloured lights onto lazy dust motes in the still and quiet. Today we queued in the machine that is tourism. We were handed shawls, & plastic bags for our shoes. The mosque has been renovated with new carpet throughout, and the inside is stunning - but it's not the same when you have to share the experience with so many clamouring to get to the rail to take selfies - that's the other thing they're selling on the streets. Selfish I know.

Selfie!!'

On leaving the mosque we were waylaid by a carpet sales man - against my better judgment I allowed him to lead us to his shop. What a fabulous experience. I was served with a little glass of apple tea and while I drank it we chatted about Istanbul. When the tea was finished we had a show of different types of carpets, and Mustaf gave us a quick lesson on what to look for in a quality carpet. Of course I liked the silk on silk best - the most expensive. And when we left without buying there was no hard feelings and no hard sell.

But we had to get to the harbour. We took a ferry to the Asian side, and it was lovely - lots of boats plying their trade, and marvellous scenery. Uskudar dates from the 7th century BC. It's a residential area and not touristy. We had tea on the promenade and sauntered with the best of them. Did I mention the beautiful day - I did get a bit sunburnt.

We checked out one of the mosques, and ventured into the market streets - goat head anyone? Tripe? And we even found our first supermarket  - who would have guessed the Turks like plastic cheese and luncheon too - no pork mind.

Back across the harbour and into the fray - the plan was to visit the carpet museum, after our interest was piqued, but alas they're closed on Mondays. Well it must be beer o'clock then. Laters...