Rugrats

Lot of rugs in Istanbul, some of them very nice. Saw one today that I would have loved to have bought if I had had the credit card limit and baggage allowance coming home that allowed it. 

This guy was actually photographed across a road, from a coffee house, in the rain. Life lived through a smart phone is now ubiquitous of course, although I am currently liberated from the earthly tyranny of such devices as my iPhone 6 gave up working last night - not clear if it rebelled against the dampness of my pocket or just got pissed off with being abused by constant Byzantine GPS navigation.

As for the rest: 

So we had a really nice trip to the bazaars - firstly the spice and secondly the Grand. Have to say the latter exceeded expectations - much better stalls and nowhere near the hassle I expected from the merchants. The merchants in the spice bazaar were very in your face but even there we found a lovely shop where we bought honeycomb, pomegranate molasses and cheese. 

In the Grand Bazaar we bought some lovely towels. I love taking home everyday things from a holiday; every time you use them you can rekindle memories.

Got very wet coming home but soon sorted ourselves out with a change of clothes and a trip to the basilica cistern. This is basically a Roman water tank, except being Roman they couldn't just dig a big hole and line it they had to go the whole classical trip with doric columns and a rather spooky bas relief of medusa. It is spectacular but spoiled by the coach party invaders. They really need to restrict entry using timed tickets to these beautiful places and not let gangs of tourists led by umbrella waving idiots ruin it. The place was like an underground cattle market a lot of the time.

Which brings me to selfie sticks, which are also everywhere and should be banned, as some places have done in the UK. God they are moronic. This year's toy for the half-witted. A lot of places here ban photography in tourist attractions, which I'm fine with, even as a keen amateur. 

After that we sat in a coffee shop for an hour and a half only drinking beer rather than coffee. Got an interesting shot in a mirror of a woman looking a bit sad and confused, which made me feel uber arty street photographer for a minute. And now getting ready to go out for dinner, after another very good day, despite the rain. Tonight's specifically chosen and carefully researched restaurant is all of thirty feet way which is good news ...