We got into Istanbul in the afternoon, so not a lot of time and energy for exploring.  We loved our terrace- rooftop views of the Aja Sofia and the Blue Mosque.  You can see the Sea of Marmara, as well as the Bosphorus River and Golden Horn.

I referred to it as the Times Square of Istanbul- we even were next to “Restaurant Row” with all the Maître D’s trying to get us to come in for dinner.  We had a decent dinner, but it was probably the most expensive one we had in Turkey, and certainly not the best.

After a walk around the neighborhood, we were coming up the back side of the Blue Mosque, and ran into an Australian/ New Zealand couple playing with a cat.  It was the most amazingly friendly cat that we met on the trip, and there were a LOT of them.  We hit it off quite well with them, and even ran into them later.  They inspired us to go on our “Mezes sampler plate tour” of Turkey, as you’ll see later...

I should mention that even though Istanbul has 16-20 million residents depending on who you talk to, it can feel like a small town.  On the flight from Amsterdam to Istanbul, I was sitting next to an American student doing a masters in Islamic studies in England.  He and his professor gave us some tips on where to go to get a taste of Istanbul.  And we saw them everywhere from the Aja Sofia to the fish market.