Istanbul

Istanbul is an interesting city. It is physically and culturally divides Europe and Asia. The people here are progressive relative to the rest of Turkey, from what I've seen. Not all the women wear headscarves, and some walk around by themselves. The other side of the river here is technically Europe, while the picture's taken from Asia. The lower part of the bridge has businesses all along. You can see the fishing poles sticking out above. You have to be a little careful to not get hooked!













There are many mosques around town. Here is the Blue Mosque, the most important one, with the tomb of Sultan Ahmed I in the foreground.











Here it is inside.














I'm not really sure what this is, but people were taking pictures, so I did. The small thing in the foreground is called the serpent column.



















The entrance to Topkapi Palace. This is the nicest part of town. There is a big park with lots of grass where people go and picnic.


















And, here is the grand bazaar. It's crazy. People have been trading here for hundreds of years. There are a ton of shops inside the main area. It's strange to see street signs inside a building. Though it's not quite a building, just a covered market. This is probably the most hectic place I've ever been.













































Shops spill outside the covered market, and people are selling things all the way up the hill and down the other side to the ocean, near the spice market. There are stores for everything. There was an entire store devoted to plastic eyes for putting on stuffed animals, right next to a store that sold nothing but jean buttons. Honest.

Spices at the Egyptian spice market. It's just called that; they sell tons of stuff there, not just spices.