Istanbul - Day 1, and what a day!

Istanbul - Day 1 was a day to be remembered, the sights the sounds, the hussel and bussel, wondering through little ally ways filled with stalls and restaurants, cars blaring their horns, streets packed with representatives of almost it seemed every tribe and  nation on this earth.
The smells, the sounds, the sights were a sensory smorgasboard that will never be forgotten.

Just one of the many ally ways explored - one of the few quiet ones! 

The Blue Mosque, this photo taken by a very pushy carpet seller who tried in vain to sell us a carpet, poor guy tried pulling all the stops to get us to buy, little did he know that behind the Kiwi facade  were Dutchies (Kijken Kijken - niet koopen) after this we became quite wary of any one who looked like they were into selling carpets...nearly every second Turkish man!

The children even got a carpet ride, what lengths they were prepared to go to sell us a carpet!!, The girls enjoyed the ride😁

Beautiful Tiles at the Archeology Museum

Islamic decoration, which tends to avoid using figurative images, makes frequent use of geometric patterns which have developed over the centuries.
















Amazing Sarcophagus at the Archaeology Museum - And there were heaps of them!!!

The museum has a large collection of Turkish, Hellenistic, Roman and Egyptian -Hittite artifacts. To be surrounded by these amazing works of antiquity was truly astounding.

These Frescos adorned the roads in Babylon during the time of King Nebadcdanezer II, Maybe Daniel would have viewed these (even have commissioned?) during his time in Babylon, just amazing to think!

Thousands of cats roamed the metropolis of Istanbul freely, wandering in and out of people's lives, These cats were to be found on every street, they have no owners but are friendly and were a delightful distraction from the busyness of the city.

Car chaos, nearly every intersection was filled with honking and frustrated drivers going nowhere in a hurry, made it easy to cross the roads,