Istanbul was Constantinople (and its nobody's business but the Turks!)

I am surely having more fun than I deserve. Tuesday I headed up to Sinaia where Peles Castle is. Unfortunately, it was closed on Tuesdays and I had to leave before it opened on Wednesday morning. Sinaia however, is like the Park City of Romania. It is a quaint little ski town with great character, beautiful mountains and plenty of charm. In the morning I took the train back to Bucuresti where I met up with Marie.

From there we took the 19 1/2 hour train from Romania, through Bulgaria and into Turkey. Four stamps in our passport and one visa for Turkey later, we arrived in Istanbul. I love it! I could never have imagined how amazing it would be. As the train crept along the coast of the Sea of Marmara, you could see the ancient wall that used to stand as a protection and a warning. The city has simply been built around these ruins and in some cases has included them in the new structure. We spent the day wandering around Old Sultanahmet, where you can find the Bisilica Cisterna, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, various museums, great shopping, tasty food and more great shopping. We visited the Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cisterna which is an underground well that I believe was once the basement of a church. It is dark and cool inside and even a little spooky because of the creative lighting and distant music they have playing.

As we came out, a turkish man we had met right before going in grabbed us and invited us to come into his shop. It was a specialty leather shop with expensive jackets and purses. He served us apple tea and despite our honesty about our budget was convinced we needed something that he could sell us. We are becoming more and more aware of the attention two american girls can draw, most of it unwanted. It is driving Marie crazy as she has been fighting the cat calls in Romania for the last year, poor girl.

The Blue Mosque is beautiful, crowded and not what I expected. It is so great to go into a building that is specifically set apart for the worship of God it commands a reverence that not all choose to observe. So many tourists!

We also went to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts and of course, did some shopping. We are staying in Istanbul until Sunday night when we will head for the coast and the ruins at Ephesus. More to come...