Day 30: Istanbul, Turkey - Back in the Big City

The Blue Mosque is magnificent.

Istanbul. It's huge. It's beautiful. It's busy. It occupies two continents. It's also my home for the next five or so days. I took another long ass bus ride (getting tired of these) from Canakkale to Istanbul, arriving at about 6:00 PM. Upon checking into my hostel, I learned that my reservation request had somehow not made it and that their dorm was full. The kind manager offered his rooftop, however, for a discounted price. I was a little skeptical, but upon seeing the rooftop I was quite pleased. It's roomy (no one else living there obviously), with a great breeze in three directions, and plenty of couch space upon which to plop myself. I happily agreed.

Since it was late, I decided sightseeing was out of the question, but did want to sit somewhere nice. There's a wonderful park area right in between the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya, with benches in every direction and a little pond in the middle. That's where I sat, and stayed for about two hours admiring the view. Istanbul is probably the largest city on my trip, though I'm not sure how the official population stacks up to Cairo. However, it is not Cairo. It is cleaner, prettier, and just more pleasant in general. I think I'm going to like it here.