Bosphorus Training…by touring

While there hasn’t been any pool time we have been training with lots of walking around Istanbul.

We had a full day tour with Taksim protester Derya Artan. She took us to the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Basilica Cistern and the Grand Bazzar (oh-and her favorite nagrile). Great sights and souvenir shopping. Capped off by dinner at the Galata Bridge.

In front of Blue Mosque

Basilica Cistern

Nagrile with Derya

Galata Bridge Dinner

Yesterday kicked off with a tour of Ayasofa, a visit to Taksim to check out what the protest was about and then a long walk back to the hotel via Galata Tower, Spice Market and Cagagelou Hamman. The hamaman was an experience to be rubbed down Turkish style.

Ayasofa

Galata Tower view

Turkish Massage

When we got back to the hotel we found out that the commute to the consulate party was going to be really long so we bagged it. Instead we took a ferry up to Cengelkoy on the Asian side and a great time at dinner. The views of the river and the bridge were awesome!!! It’s a big river-getting excited.