Final Day in Istanbul

Waking up Early for once, we decided to investigate the Aya Sophia-- The enormous Mosque we saw every day from our deds on the roof of the hostal.  Turns out, the Aya Sophia was an ancient Basilica that was turned into a mosque.  Remnants of the fist burned down church were still visibleIt's an impressive buildings, with a gigantic domed roof aglitter with golden moseics.  A great long cobblestone ramp lead to the second floor-- a ramp we decided would be perfect for mountain biking.  The secnd floor offered some excellent views of the blue mosque across the street, as well as a lousy photo exibit.

Taking our fill of the clunky Aya Sophia, we crossed to the Blue Mosque-- An elegant, graceful series of domes, half domes, and minarettes built by Trev's favorite archetect Siman.  We took off our shoes and went inside to be greated by a heavily carpeted interior as elegant as the exterior.

We left reluctantly and walked uptown to a Turkish bath called Cem berlitas Hamami, also built by Sinan.  There we paid 40 Lira for the full treatment- a scrub by an attendent and a massage.

After changing into a wrap they called a pastolme, we were lead to a steamy room with an enormous marble table.  told to lay down, we sprawled out on the marble and were left to sweat for 15 minutes.  Then two fat mustachiod men scrubbed us, washed our hair and gave us a rough rub down of a massage.  You know you are dirty when even someone who baths people for a living points out how much dead skin scrubs off.  We tipped them each 5 Lira.

Nest stop on our eventful last day was Topiki palace-- home of Sultans.  It was enormous and packed fll of tourists.  We checked out some unbelievable gems in the treasury then decided to call it a day.

We had a few drinks ove rounds of backgammon in a nearby resturant, then peta Pizzas.  Then we hit the sack for an early bed time