Sadly, today we left Istanbul for Edirne. Before heading out, though, we went to the Basilica cisterns. They're from the 6th century during the Byzantine period and were built under Emperor Justinian.
the cisterns
more cisterns
Oddly enough, there were tons and tons of fish - some even very decent sized ones. How do they live in an underground, manmade cavern with no natural light? I have absolutely no idea.
sunny day (The structure in the background is the German Fountain; I don't remember why it's called that.)
At lunch, Anna and I decided to try the local liquor specialty, rakı. In fact, even Mom and Dad sipped a bit from ours. The white one is mine. It apparently turns white when you add water to it. It tastes like licorice. It is so SO gross that just looking at this photo makes me gag a bit.
Here we are just before leaving with our AWESOME hotel-working friend Fatih. Not only was he amazingly helpful and completely proficient in English, he was also a great guy. We played cards, Anna went to cheer him on in soccer, etc. etc. He absolutely made our stay at the Osmanhan hotel.
After a two and a half hour trip in the nicest bus I've ever ridden in (which cost about $10/person), we arrived in Edirne, right on the Bulgarian border. We're here for the next three days or so. It's a small city whose main (basically only) attraction is a huge mosque built by Sinan (again). It's supposedly his best; that's what we'll see tomorrow. Other than that, I guess we'll just wander.
The hotel here is actually completely decent, but I wanted to post this one picture of the odd decor. Look at the tiny little picture hidden behind the TV. Love it. Very feng shui.
In closing, I will leave you with the ridiculously touristy meal I ate this evening: hamburger and milkshake. Yum.
