Sultanahmet

On day four of my trip to Istanbul, I went to Sultanahmet to see the Blue Mosque, a restaurant I had heard of called Doy Doy and the Grand Bazaar. These are the pictures I took with my Leica M8. I brought it because it is an interchangable lens rangefinder and it has an ultra wide angle lens which is great for landscapes and architecture. I also had my Leica D-Lux 4 whihc is a more normal point and shoot with a zoom lens which is a little more nimble in changing situations.

Anyway, back to the story:

Ekmel was my guide today and she arranged all of the taxis and ferry and did a great job. We took the ferry to the European side and then took a taxi to the area surrounding the Blue Mosque. across th courtyard there was a palace and a fountain in the middle, but the main attraction was the Mosque itself. I took some shots from the car park and the courtyard, but we did not go inside because I am not so much the guided tour kind of person and I wanted to also get to the Covered Bazaar (also called the Grand Bazaar) all in one day. Ther religious holiday starts on thursday, so it would be my best if nto only chance.

Doy Doy was a bit of a disappointment . The restaurant itself looked uncared for.  The bottom floor looked normal, but as we climbed to the terace, there were signs of neglect and the view contained both a decent view of the mosque and debris from surrounding building. Ekmel refused to eat there, but I tried the Pide, which was amazing! So... truly a hole in the wall with great food, but if I had small children,  I would never have tried this place, it looked too suspect. It was a lot better then the Pide I ordered in from a "respectable" restaurant the same night, so hard to call it.