Back streets

It eventually stopped raining today. The sun tried to come out this afternoon, but for the most part, it was partly cloudy. We took the City Sightseeing Istanbul bus tour, which got us out of Sultanahmet for a few hours. Our bus took us to Golden Horn past Galeta Tower and Dolmabahçe Palace, to Taksim Square, then outside the city walls. I took some photos with my iPhone but unfortunately have been unable to transfer them to iPad so instead I'm showing you photos I took with my iPad after the tour, in the area where we're staying.

There are a hundred shops on every street. Usually they specialize in something, like carpets, lights, jewelry, or pottery, but sometimes they sell multiple items, like this one near our hotel.

 

Note to self: I need to do a blog post on carpets shops & bazaars.

 

Here's our local convenience store, where we buy bottles of water and snacks. You can also get other items here like tea, soft drinks, chocolates, fruit, and beer.

 

Today we learned that a big holiday starts tomorrow afternoon -- Kurban Bayrami or the Festival of the Sacrifice. The timing coincides with Turkey's national holiday, Republic Day (29 October), so there's going to be a six day holiday. We're not sure how or if this will impact our travel plans, but like all seasoned travelers, we'll go with the flow. After all, we're happy to be here!!!

 

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