Day 10: September 14. Journey to the Black Sea

Trying to beat the crowds, we headed to the Aya Sophia in the morning. Although this "World Heritage Site" was still jam-packed, we adroitly weaved through the crowds to explore this building of paramount importance to two world religions. We were able to see mosaics that had been created before the Muslim religon even began! The two things that struck is about the Aya Sophia were its pure size (the buliding is HUGE!) and the fact that it's been around for over a millenium and a half!

After a brief stop to our hostel, to grab our sea-faring attire, we made our way to the Bosphorous Ferry. The scenery on the asian and european sides were beatiful. Did you know that Istanbul is the only city in the world on two continents? Its also the the most populated city in Europe and the third most populated in Asia. We just so happen to be going to the top two.

We took the ferry to where the Bosphorus meets the Black Sea. It was Karlas first in Asia. Horray. We hiked up to a castle at the last stop (surprising, we know) to get a better view of the sea. Unlike the rest of the castles we've seen, this one had not been destroyed by the turks. We hiked back down and had a delicious snack of mackerel (spelling?) Before heading back to the 6oclock ferry. The view on the way back was amazing as it was a twilight. We arrived right at the call to prayer and everyone started to eat.

Getting pretty hungry ourselves, we walked to find "the best baklava in town" and then headed into the heart of istanbuls nightlife which is also known for great restaurants.

Unfortunately, as our Turkish isn't great, we sat down at the wrong restaurantm we were halfway through our meal when karla looked up at the awning and realized that this was not in fact the restaurant we had intended to go to. It worked out fine in the end, not only because the food was good, but also because we happened upon some Turkish university students who spoke great English, and had the opportunity to hang out with them and watch a soccer match for a bit after dinner.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll make it to the right restaurant!
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