I’ve been here only a couple of hours and I knew immediately, before I even stepped off the night bus from Selçuk that I would like this city. From the bus, the view was great. We saw the Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque and numerous other sights before the bus swung around in the opposite direction and headed toward the bus station (which is a lot further away than we expected).
From the enormous bus station (I think we were dropped off at platform 126), we took the metro to Aksaray, the end stop and then took the tram from there to Sultanahmet, the neighborhood where we are staying and where most of the sites are located.
The hotel receptionist didn’t speak English, but we were able to communicate enough to check in and pay. After breakfast on the roof terrace (apparently those are all the rage here and I can see why - the view), we set out to explore Istanbul.
22 May 2002
We started our adventure with the obelisk near the Blue Mosque (we are staying in a place close to the Blue Mosque so it is a logical starting point) and then headed to the Mosque itself. Neither of us had seen the inside of a mosque before. After securing my scarf around my head and removing my shoes and placing them inside a clear plastic bag, I was ready to enter the mosque. Although several signs were posted about women covering their heads, many women ignored these signs. Scarves were provided for those who had none, and still there were many many people ignoring the requests.
The Blue Mosque.
After seeing the mosque, we walked over to Topkapi Palace where we discovered the price had doubled since the publication of my guidebook information (November 2007, so 1.5 years ago). So we didn’t go. At least not yet. I’m not ready to shell out that much to see a castle.
After the castle grounds, we walked to the Grand Bazaar. While interesting to see, there were too many people and all the vendors had the same products. And I couldn’t afford anything. 
One of the many entrances to the Grand Bazaar.
From the Grand Bazaar, we made our way to the Egyptian Spice Market, which was just as interesting, slightly cheaper I suppose, but twice as crowded. 
The Egyptian Spice Market Entrance.
Spices anyone?
With aching feet, we ate dinner and ended the day.
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