We planned excursions for both days in Istanbul.  There is a lot to see there and Adele hoped there would be some good shopping opportunities.  On the first day, we took a more or less generic tour which drove around the city and stopped at the Spice Market.  We were surprised to find (we didn’t read the brochure carefully enough) that the tour also included a carpet “demonstration” (i.e. sales pitch) and a stop at the Grand Bazaar.  The general tour around the city was pretty interesting and would have been even better if the bus had springs.  I had tweaked my back that morning and was not very comfortable riding around.  Fortunately, things got better after we walked for a while.
The carpet demonstration was about what we expected, lots of beautiful stuff at really high prices.  By sheer coincidence, the carpet store was on the 4th floor of a building that just happened to include a leather store, a clothing store, and an antique store.  Of course, there was no way to get out without going through the other stores.  We spent much of the carpet hour wandering around the neighborhood without really knowing where we were.  After the carpets, the guide walked us two blocks to the Grand Bazaar, which is what we had really wanted to see all along.  Due to lack of time, we didn’t get in as much shopping and looking as we really wanted, but it was a good orientation for the next day, which was to include a Grand Bazaar visit.  The last stop was the Spice Market.  It was extremely crowded, but the piles of spices were very fragrant and pretty to see.
The tour the second day included the Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace, a carpet demonstration, and the Grand Bazaar.  The Blue Mosque was plain on the outside, but wonderful on the inside.  As with most mosques, the interior was very plain (at least compared to your average cathedral), but richly carpeted and the wall were covered with complex blue tiles and calligraphy.  I got a number of pictures, and I hope they will at least give a hint of the color.
After the Blue Mosque, we walked a couple of blocks to the Topkapi Palace, home of the Ottoman Sultans.  The Palace is mostly a large park surrounded by corridors and buildings.  The grounds were immaculately maintained with many flowers (especially tulips) blooming brightly.  An odd thing we saw was a large number of cats just “hanging out” in sociable groups.  I suppose they were hoping for handouts, but they did not pay much attention to us.  The few rooms we were allowed to see were spectacular, although the crowds of people made it hard to see very much.  The best part was the treasury, where they had the sultan’s jewelry on display.  I have never seen such fancy stuff.  Imagine the gaudiest Hollywood treatment of a sultan’s jewels and you will approximate what we saw - and it was all real!  There were jeweled hats, jewel-encrusted swords, and jewel boxes made of gold and jewels, and so forth.  Once again, the crowds made it hard to see much.
The next (and last) stop was the Grand Bazaar.  We didn’t even bother with the scheduled carpet demonstration - the bus dropped us off at the bazaar.  Once again, we didn’t have the time we would have like.  We wandered around (Adele leading us on like a bloodhound) looking for bargains.  We did quite well, Adele found a jewelry store which had the things she was looking for at a price (after vigorous negotiation, of course) she was willing to pay.  We left after drinking cups of Turkish Apple Tea (really good) with the owner and Adele both happy with the outcome.  We wandered a bit longer and then headed back to the bus.

Istanbul Photos