It was time. We had arrived one evening (Friday) and set up our "stuff" in the apartment. Saturday - the day after changing apartments - is a rest day so we took the 2 hour cruise and gathered food from various stores and figured out the tram/metro system. Wine here is 3x the price in Romania, Czech, or France.
Today was exploration. But first pancakes with honey (some) or blackberry jam (others), coffee (still Czech coffee) and tea (English, from Romania). Dressed for rain and headed out. Stopped at the Blue Mosque (see Donna's blog for photos) and met Sadik. The courtesy and conviviality for which cultured Turks and Arabs are known is exemplified in Sadik Turhan. He volunteered to be our guide to the Blue Mosque, got us in ahead of the lines, agreed to help us find a better and less expensive apartment when we return (our current apartment is fine, if a bit expensive) in March for 6 weeks, and gave us a tour of his carpet and jewelry businesses. This was fun too, and we shared a cup of tea (Donna) and coffee (me) with him as he answered all of my questions. Here are photos of his businesses. My left arm is halting a car that was about to hit our photographer! If you need what they have, Donna and I can attest to their fine quality and gracious hospitality:
www.5krugstore.com
The sun came out, the temp climbed, and we headed back to cool off and change clothes. More later....
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