Day 47 (Turkey): rest day in Istanbul (anything wrong with my eyes?)

today’s distance: 0km
total distance: 3818km
riding time: 0h

WARNING: Lots of pictures in this post (and even more on the flickr site).

No biking today and what a fun-filled day it was. After a slow morning Gokce’s father and I set out to tour the city. Haluk is a great tour guide, his gregarious ways making the day. We reached the ferries, got across the main street of Istanbul and had a great time touring the Topkapi Palace (despite the hordes of tourists and schoolchildren a definite must I think) and the Hagia Sofia.

This is where I didn’t believe whom I saw … Philippe, a friend from Stanford Law School. He was in Istanbul for a conference and had put in another day to tour the city.

After this chance encounter it was time for food … Koefte and Piyaz was the name of the game. Apart from one other table we were the only other tourists despite the location straight across from the mass tourist attractions. Simple, but great food.

This was followed by the cistern and the Grand Bazar. Yes, we did the tourist thing, but it was great fun.

Gokce’s father is a great and funny person. More food was to follow before we got back on the ferry and headed home. It was an amazing day, Gokce’s father opening the place much better than I could have done had I been on my own.

Once there we enjoyed great Börek - homemade by Gokce’s mother, fantastic stuff. Thanks for a great day.

I’ve said this before, but now there are heaps of pictures on the flickr site, go check them out if you like.