Troy

Troy was neat, though not spectacular to look at. You can climb up into the Trojan horse. I was still exhausted from being sick and barely eating, so we took it slow.

Castle

After doing lots of sightseeing around Istanbul, we took the ferry that goes all the way down the Bosphorus, stopping in a little town at the end for a few hours so we could have lunch. There were lots of nice views.
The next day we both were very ill, so we were stuck in bed for two days, not eating anything. Fortunately there was running water again in the hostel by that time, the two days prior there was no running water anywhere in the old part of the city due to pipe work. Not fun when you are spending all day out in 90 degree weather. So, we went to the Grand Bazaar on our last day but didn't have much energy to buy stuff or take pictures there.
A big thanks to our Turkish friends Teresa and Hursu, who took us to dinner on our last night, and then translated at the pharmacy so we could get the right medicine! We were very grateful.

Aya Sofya (Istanbul)

Built around 530 AD, this was a Byzantine church, then was converted to a mosque by the Ottomans, and to a museum by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Republic of Turkey.

Istanbul - The Basilica Cistern

The Basilica Cistern. The bottom picture is an ad for 'Miniaturk,' a theme park that consists of small models of all the historical landmarks in Turkey. Unfortunately we didn't make it to Miniaturk.

The Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii) built between 1609-1616. It is beautiful inside, but the weird low lights kind of distract from the tiles and everything.

Galata Tower, and views from the top

At the top there is a restaurant and 'nightclup,' according to the brochure, with a traditional dance performance. We just went up & took pictures, no nightclupping for us.

Topkapı Palace

Windows and tiles in a courtyard