June 12: Turkey Part II - THE END!!!

another thing I liked about Istanbul was all the cats - not mangy strays like we have in the US, but what looked like well-cared-for pets

didn't love the idea of a cat on a restaurant table but it was still cute

hmm

I paused around 8:15am for another coffee; this one came with an elaborate setup!

a turkish delight in the middle, under a silver dome

smh

I got a pistachio pastry thing that was technically a dessert but was really just "second breakfast" in my mind. And the coffee was under its own tiny dome!

Then I had some complimentary black tea on the restaurant terrace, overlooking Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque

I liked the rugs. Many people tried to sell them to me, including a man who also wanted to know if I had any daughters that could marry his son.

You had to cover your head as well as your legs to enter the Blue Mosque, so I put my sarong over my hair and wore the sack-skirt provided by the mosque. 

over 21,000 tiles decorate the interior!

I liked this double pun. The river is called Bosphorus, and this could also mean "bus for us"!

My final stop before lunch was the underground Roman Cisterna Basilica, built in the 6th century! The structure was original, but had been supplemented with art installations and mood lighting. Very fun to walk around and wonder at. 

above ground, I enjoyed this gorgeous mezze plate

another complimentary black tea! I love it here!

After lunch, I cabbed back to the airport and caught my final flight back to Detroit. Incredibly, I managed to stay awake on most of the 11h flight across the Atlantic, aided by the many movie options. (Incredible because my previous night's sleep was on an airplane and I'm bad at staying awake on planes in general). I watched the final half of Soul (which I had watched pieces of on various flights), half of Little Women (got bored), half of a terrible movie called “Influencer” about a young white woman in Thailand who murders social media influencers to steal their money, and all of King Richard which was superb. Then I landed back in the beautiful US of A!!!!! Happy ending!!!!!!

If I feel up for it between job apps, I may post once or twice more with some reflections on the trip. Right now I'm feeling accomplished for posting about every single dang day on this epic five-week journey! Thanks for following along! I love all ten of you!!!