Once again, it's hard to believe that a place like Istanbul is only a little over an hour by plane from Pristina.
After thoroughly researching the history of the Ottoman Empire (I downloaded the Turkish TV soap "Suleman the Magnificent" from Youtube - not to be confused with 'Suleman the Octomum' because that's a different story) I was ready to take on Constantinople.
We were there for a good time, not a long time, so we got busy checking out some of the stunning architecture and monuments from the get-go.
First stop Hagia Sofia - the church that became a mosque that became a museum.
The mosaics were amazing. Some of them made from gold!
With an astounding colour palette
Hmm, I think this is the Blue Mosque ("Suleiman the Magnificent" was a better educator in the love lives of the Ottoman Emperors, but not so much in the identification of buildings of historical importance, ok?)
These Bollywooders in the middle of a film shoot provided some light relief between monuments and monumental waiting lines:
Then it was off to Topkapi Palace - replete with harems and rooms full of decorative containers holding hairs from the Prophet Muhammad's beard (!!)
But I liked the tiles best.
With their perfect pastels and bright blues.
and the windows.
But the truth was, we were there for the food.
The best bit about Istanbul is that you can have baklava for brekky!
and delicious sweet milk puddings
spices at the bazaar
famous fish sandwiches by the river for lunch
and cups of tea in pretty little glasses when you are feeling a bit tired and dishevelled after all the looking and walking and eating.
On our last night we got caught up in this fracas. The local football team won the championship and the streets were awash with red and yellow and happy beery people.
Time to go crazy!
But not too crazy, said the po-lice.
And that was the end of our trip!
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