Rick Steves' tour ended after breakfast on Day 13. Half of us rode the tour bus to Ismir airport to catch a flight out. Dave and I had an 11 am flight to Istanbul. We could probably catch the 2 pm flight back to Chicago on the same day, but we weren't sure when we booked the tickets month ago, so we stayed at Istanbul one more night, and wandered around on our own a bit more.
1. Islamic art museum.
2. Islamic art museum.
3. Blue Mosque from Islamic art museum.
4. Pera Palace Hotel, built in 1892 for the purpose of hosting the passengers of the Orient Express.
5. Pera Palace Hotel.
6. Pera Palace Hotel.
7. Pera Palace Hotel.
8. Pera Palace Hotel.
9. A Catholic church on Istiklal Street.
10. Tram on Istiklal Street.
11. Simit, a popular circular bread in Istanbul, typically encrusted with sesame seeds. It is really good, and it was only 1.5 TL (33 cents) when we were there.
12. Istiklal Street.
13. Taksim Square.
14. Taksim Square.
15. Families breaking fast together in front of Hagia Sophia.
16. Families breaking fast together in front of Blue Mosque.
17. Blue Mosque again in the morning.
18. Beautiful and peaceful Gülhane Park in the morning.
19. Beautiful and peaceful Gülhane Park in the morning.
20. Beautiful and peaceful Gülhane Park in the morning.
21. Beautiful and peaceful Gülhane Park in the morning.
22. Istanbul.
23. Locals fishing on Galata Bridge.
24. Vendor selling fishing supplies.
(The End)
P.S. $1 was about 4.5 TL in May / June 2018.
