September 13, 2025 - Istanbul, Turkey

We were up around 7:00 and met Wendy, Shari and Bill for breakfast at 8:0am, before checking out of our hotel. We walked around the block to the Kent Hotel where we are staying for the next two nights and checked our bags before venturing out for the day. This is the view as we headed out this morning. I had mapped out some areas we might want to see and we were off.

We passed lots of shops as we heading to the first stop - this one catering to the big guys.

We are going back to this Turkish Delight shop at the end of the trip to get treats to bring home.

We passed by the Sehzadebasi Cami, one of the many mosques in Istanbul. It is a 16th century Ottoman imperial mosque in the district of Fatih, on the third hill of Istanbul. It was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent as a memorial to his son who died in 1543.

This was on one of the doors just inside.

Sarachane Park is next to the mosque and cats, cats, everywhere! This guy had about five cats following him. I'm sure they were expecting treats.

The Burmali Mosque is another 16 century Ottoman mosque in Sarachne Park. It was built in 1550 and is named for its spiraling brick minaret, a copy of a Seljug design that is unique in Istanbul.

This was a statue at the entrance to the park.

The large statue of a sultan on a horse is in the middle of the park.

At the end of the park are the Aqueduct of Valens. It is one of the oldest and most impressive structures in Istanbul. Construction began under Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337) and was completed by Emperor Valens in 375AD! It was built to bring clean water into the city when it was the capitol of the Byzantine Empire. For over 1,500 years, the aqueduct carried water from the Belgrad Forest to the center of the city, ending at a large fountain near Beyazit Square.

Now city streets run through the arches!

Continuing on, we passed the Fatih Mosque.

It is a very large complex, which includes a mosque, a madrasah (religious school), a daruşşifa (hospital), a Turkish bath, a bazaar, a library, and the tombs. It was constructed between 1463-1470!


The small arch looking stings along the front of the mosque are washing stations. Muslims are careful to prepare themselves before praying by washing. The washing is called wudu and involves washing their hands, mouth, nostrils, arms, head, and feet with water. Most mosques have separate areas for men and women to wash. This was a peak inside.

We continued on to the neighborhoods of Fener and Balat which are known for their colorful houses (and steep hills!).

I loved seeing the different foods and spices for sale as we passed by the many shops.


This was really cool to see. It was a bakery and the bread was on a conveyor belt. It looked like it passed through the oven, then out and back through again until it was the right color of doneness.

We got a glimpse of the Galata Tower which is across the Bosphorus Strait.

Continuing on ....

More cats!


And we arrived to the colorful houses!

We were there!






We headed down the hill and walked along the Golden Horn heading back toward our hotel.

We spotted the Bulgarian Church and stopped to take a look. It was built in the 1800s.


We continued along the water and could see the Galata Tower which was built in the 1200s.

There were lots of folks fishing and enjoying the park along the water.

One family even brought their fancy chickens to the park with them!

We had to pass under the road along the tram tunnel and there were mural along the way. It was pretty interesting to see.

By now it was after 1pm and we were all getting tired and hungry so made our way back (now UP the hills) toward our hotel. We stopped for lunch at the Chef Murad Restaurant. Tobey and I split a cheese pide.

We watched several other people get this puffy bread so we ordered one to share. Ours un-puffed almost before it arrived at our table. It was pretty bland, but okay. It seems like the locals were served some kind of things to dip the bread in which would have been better - I think.

We arrived back at the hotel around 2:30 after walking over five miles and got checked into our rooms. We spent time relaxing and Tobey took another walk before we joined the group for our meet and greet with our local tour director at 6:30 tonight. After our meeting, Bill and Shari and Tobey and I went out to grab a small dinner since it was almost 8:30! We stopped at the Lalelim Bufe and had a delicious beef duren and fresh squeezed orange juice.

The meat was delicious and it was all we could do to finish the one sandwich between us!

It's almost 10:00pm and breakfast is at 7:30 and the tour begins at 9:00 so it will be a full day. Good night from Istanbul!