part VII - and back in Istanbul again

The last couple of days back in Istanbul were spent walking around Sultanahmet and shopping ... and walking some more and shopping again. We visited the Rustem Pasa mosque - my favorite one of all - where we sat through prayer and chatted with the Imam for a while, saw the train station where the Orient Express stops, went back to the Spice and Grand Bazaars where I got my second mixed scent and twelve meters of fabrics from a dear old man, ate more baklavas and tried the gullaç (special dessert only available during Ramazan), and visited the night stalls around the Hippodrome which was so festive I never wanted to leave. And for our last meal, lunch at Hamdi again. It was the perfect ending for one of the best trips we ever had.

I think it shows on all these posts I made how much we loved it there. Before we went I had read somewhere that Turkey is a country you can't visit just once. I now understand why :)


blue mosque


blue mosque


sultans' tombs


rustem pasa mosque


rustem pasa mosque


rustem pasa mosque


at eminonu


the orient express station


the blue mosque at night


the hippodrome stalls at night


carpet store in the baths of roxelana


carpet store in the baths of roxelana


outside the spice bazaar


lunch at hamdi