Taksim Square and shopping street

Fourth day in Istanbul and still overwhelmed by this city.

Today I took the day easy. I first went to a café, right in the neighborhood of my hotel. There was a traditional Turkish coffee. The owner was very interested in my trip, it turned out that it was not just a café, but also a hostel. If only I had known that earlier. Then I walked to Sultan Ahmed Park, which is just around the corner.

In this park there are many sights. Among them the Blue Mosque, right across the street from the Hagia Sophia, the Sultan Ahmed Mausoleum, or the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art.

I would have liked to visit Hagia Sophia, but when I saw the line of people waiting to get in, about 500 meters long, I decided to skip it and went to the Blue Mosque instead. It is a magnificent building, unfortunately it was extensively renovated inside, so you couldn't see the magnificent wall paintings at all or only barely. What a shame. From there I continued to the Mausoleum. Here are the coffins of Sultan Ahmed and other high dignitaries of the Ottoman Empire.

It was a round morning with many new and great impressions.

What I didn't like so much, there are signs everywhere with rules of conduct, but the guards often had to intervene. What a shame.

I spent the lunch time at the Bosphorus promenade, watching the bustling activity and the ships lined up like pearls on a chain.

At around 3:00 p.m. I went to my hotel and took a nap.

But that wasn't the end yet.

At 6:00 p.m. I went out again, hailed a taxi and went to Taksim Square. I had a good conversation with the taxi driver, all with the help of Google Translator that the driver used during the ride.😬

Taksim Square has been in the headlines several times, I do not want to discuss the reasons for that here and now. There were so many people here, madness! There is also the Taksim Mosque which I visited, also a magnificent building! I just sat down in a corner on the floor of the mosque and enjoyed the peace and I wasn't the only one doing that. (See photos)

Then I slowly walked back to the hotel through the main shopping street, this colorful hustle and bustle, the many restaurants and shops, madness!

And Istanbul in the dark has a completely different, special flair.

Then I had a snack and retreated to my hotel.

A little note, wherever there are many people, like in the park, Taksim Square or busy bazaars and shopping streets, there is an incredible and heavily armed police presence.

Yesterday I happened to read a travel report. The author was approached by a nice gentleman and engaged in a conversation. The nice gentleman suggested continuing the conversation over a drink, which they did, and the result was that the author of the report was supposed to pay an outrageously expensive drink bill of several hundred €. But he got away with it because he quickly involved the police.

I was also approached, asked for a lighter for a cigarette, and a conversation developed from that, which was supposed to continue with a drink, which I politely declined.

After that, I was asked for a lighter two more times, but I ignored those approaches.