Fırst Real Day

I think one of the more difficult parts of creatıng this first post is the different keyboard. Turkish has several different letters that don't exist in English (< I still can't find the comma) like İıçöğşü etc. The nice thing is that you can type place names as they really are spelled like: Here I am in İstanbul. And I visited a remarkable little church (among many other things) called Küçükayasofya today. Originally called in English the Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus - patron saints of soldiers - it was built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian legend has it because he was busted in a plot to assassinate the previous emperor and apparently made a pledge to himself to dedicate something to those guys if he somehow survived and didn't get beheaded etc. Well he lived and hence the church.

Anyway İstanbul is much much more modern than I remember. But I was here over 10 years ago obviously too. But what used to be a warren of sleazy backstreets of crumbling Ottoman-era houses and a few youth hostels in Sultanahmet are now replaced by posh boutique hotels and restaurants. Figures. All the main tourist sites are here. Still it seems to have lost a little of its character. And the Turkish prison that they based Midnight Express on that was over in this neighborhood has been replaced by the Four Seasons hotel!

No sign of any rain anywhere these days. Apparently the flash flood phenomenon has dissipated. Already met my share of annoying carpet touts posing as random strangers on the street: "Where are you from my friend. Oh Colorado... So do you want to look at some family-made carpets? My shop is right over there etc." Otherwise everything is great. Off to either Edirne or Kıyıköy in the morning.