Day 14: Istanbul, Monday April 14, 2025

Weather: Hazy (the first not clear day on the trip) and cool

Activities: Tour the Blue Mosque, ferry to an island without cars (mostly) and climb to a convent and lunch al fresco

Meet in the lobby at 8:15 and walk a bit over 1/2 mile to the Blue Mosque...beating the crowds. 

Walk to the ferry, about a mile downhill, take a ferry a bit over an hour to a small island, and then hike to the heavens to take in a small chapel inside the convent 

On the ferry is a tour group of 80 from all over India made up of winners of a corporate contest: 77 men  and 3 women. The 77 look like a brmance fraternity full of 30-45 somethings. We chat up two of the winners, male and female (she's a rarity). 

our really small group of 7 are on e-bus to the  HARDEST PART OF THE  HIKE...FINDING THE TRAILHEAD

fortunately we have B along to find the trailhead (B, NOT BOB)

the handrails to the WC are being painted...DO NOT TOUCH

lunch is quite good...truism: the harder the hike the better the food  and beer taste

The original rail terminal/termination point of the Orient Express (no longer running)

no, not a repeat photo, a repeat failing of the keys to get into our room...trying to solve the problem by doing the same thing over and over again is a form of insanity (Albert E quote?)

The tour is nearing and end, two more stops (Bodrum and Ephesus) and we decide to move some big bags over to our last hotel stop rather than schlep through the airports. Off to the  Pera Palace, DA and THB take a cap ride across the bridge, drop the bags, hop back in the cab and return to the Levni. $18 round trip. This pic shows how we ended up behind a garbage truck with only a few blocks left to go to the Pera