After dropping DJ off in Shanghai, we needed a way to get closer to the time zone of Europe without starting the Schengen Zone clock, as we would need the full 90 days allowed for our Camino walk -- so not Europe. We had strongly considered Dubai but then Trump started his stupid war in the region so that was out of the question. Istanbul was the next best fit.An old colleague of Hillary's had spent years living in Turkey but beyond that we knew...
One of the things you see time and again on social media about Istanbul is cats. According to these posts you will find cats permeating all corners of the city, but I wasn't quite sure what we would find when we got here.True to the posts, we did, in fact, find cats everywhere. Most seem to be quite friendly, allowing you to pet them with ease. There certainly are cat fights occasionally but these seem to be few and far between.The cats of...
According to Wikipedia, Istanbul as the largest city in the middle east, and as the capital of the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1453, has the largest number of mosques of any city in the world.During our visit we walked through many different parts of the city. Along the way we saw dozens and dozens of mosques, large and small, new and old. There are active mosques that are well maintained and those that have fallen out of use and are falling...
