Day 3: Istanbul and Travel to Izmir

There were a couple more things that we wanted to do before leaving Istanbul, so we decided to hurry and get them done before hotel check-out.

First, we went to the Blue Mosque. Ruth and Hannah attempted to dress “modestly”, but I went a little radical by wearing a scandalous knee-length dress and leggings. They wrapped me in a Velcro skirt before I was permitted in. We put our shoes in plastic bags, then walked in barefoot.

“It smells like feet!” Those were Hannah’s first words when we got in the mosque. And she was right. We looked around a little, had someone take our picture, and then left. There was more to explore at Hagia Sofia, whereas the Blue Mosque was also pretty, but there was less to see.

We had 30 minutes and 30 Lira to walk down to the Basilica Cistern. It was fascinating that there is so much under the ground there; columns, arches, water, fish, tourists, a café…

We got out of our hotel room with just minutes before check-out, and then we took metros and a bus out of town.

It took over an hour to get out of Istanbul due to traffic and frequent stops at other bus stations. We saw a semi that was bursting in flames. The driver was in the cab grabbing his fire extinguisher. Our bus took a ferry ride, which reminded us of the ferry we took in Texas last summer.  Other than that, the 9-hour trip south has been pretty uneventful.

We arrived in Izmir around midnight tonight, and tomorrow we plan on going to Ephesus.