I'm mosque'd out!

Istanbul is old. We saw one of the earliest Christian churches today, built in 400 AD roughly. Now that's old.

In all, I think we've seen 6 mosques. That's a lot. It all gets blurred in my mind at the end. The nicest was Rustem Pacha mosque. Not the biggest, but the prettiest.

Thanks to a website called Delicious Istanbul, we found great foodstuff on a number of our stops --Turkish Delight, nougat of some kind, smoked Urfa pepper, all kinds of good stuff.

The Grand Bazar is an adventure. Found the most amazing scarf store, Ottoamano, with scarves ranging from $5 to several thousand dollars. I got to try a $1200 one. Light as air, with the most exquisite hand embroidery, it was a work of art.

We had dinner with a lovely couple -- a university prof and his wife. Both passionate activists, their idealism and enthusiasm were endearing, but I'm glad I'm not that age anymore. Her Ph.D. thesis sounds remarkably interesting though -- roughly, she's demonstrating through the works of Moliere andTurkish theatre that the west is just as influenced by the east as the east is by the west. Strange to think that's not a given!

So far, I have eaten everything I was hoping to eat while I was here -- tavok shish, lamacun, kofte,  fresh grilled fish,

And more meze that I can shake a stick at. The best? Sliced green beans poached in olive oil. Served cold with a squirt of lemon and a 

sprinkle of Urfa pepper, it's da bomb!

I'm looking forward to another good night's sleep!