Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you, Istanbul...the big hits!

"You can sleep when you're dead." Apparently that was the motto of the day. After a quick 2.5 hours nap, Mark and I were ready to hit the town for our 8 hour tour of Istanbul.

After some hustle bustle, we finally meet our group tour guide, Ufut. He is a chubby, sweaty Turk. But throughout the day his personality, and his mannerisms will grow on us and he will become a memorable part of the trip.

First stop - the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque is the most famous of the 2,644 mosques in Istanbul. Sporting (6) Minarets, it really is a site to behold. This being my first mosque and all, I was a bit nervous for the first time. But I took my shoes off as is required, put a skirt on to cover over my bare knees (A&F daisy dukes don't cut it here), and prepared myself for entry into the Muslim world. A site to be seen for sure.

Your boy on the "alter" at the Blue Mosque

Next stop is the Hagia Sophia. It's the largest Church converted to Mosque converted to Museum in the world. A little bizarre to see Christianity & Islam under the same roof, but very interesting nonetheless. Grand Bazaar, you're on deck.

 And how grandiose you are. Not so bizarre, but more grand than anything. A huge congregation of mostly jewelry shops, but also many rug, souvenir, and t-shirt shops.

Last stop on the tour is the Topkapi Palace. The original palace built and used by the Ottoman Turk empire for more than 400 years, it is sprawling and spectacular. Prized possessions included the Topkapi Dagger and the 3rd largest diamond in the world, something like 86 carats. Of note also, is the Harem built onsite to accommodate the Sultans "ladies". Yeah, and did I mention it accomododated 1,000 ladies! That Sultan must have been a busy guy ruling the empire, while still managing to be "king of his castle." But the view from Topkapi over the city and the river is unrivaled to any other I've seen in Istanbul so far.

We wrap up the tour and are going to head back to the W. Jeff, Liz, Sunny, and Peter have all arrived to Istanbul today. We are anxious to see them and welcome them to Eurasia.