As we were leaving the seafood restaurant Jay recommended that we have some ice cream a few steps away.
This guy is semi-famous, as you can see from the large sign on his ice cream stand. The photos on the back wall show him selling ice cream in Japan. It was a fun ice cream treat.
Picking a flavor.
The ice cream guy teases Robin by twirling the cup away when she reaches for it.
After ice cream we walked along the Marmara coast where lots of people hang out, picnic, walk, and fish.
Jay leads the way.
This guy sells a white milk-ish sweet drink. We tried it and it was very tasty. I could go for one right now.
The seawall makes a nice spot for target shooting. Balloons or glass bottles, take your pick.
In Istanbul you don't have to wait for the County Fair to come to town to test your shooting skills.
Some guy with a monkey (that would make a good book or movie title) lets people take photos with the monkey. He wouldn't take money. I think he just happened to be out walking his monkey.
The ancient defense walls around the city are still mostly there. Some of the newer buildings are partially made of the old wall. Above, the Blue Mosque appears beyond the wall.
Strolling along.
When Nezih and Elmira left to return home, Jay hailed a taxi and we went back across the Golden Horn to his side of town. We went to a palace on the Bosphorous that sultans used after they stopped using the Topkapi Palace for their headquarters. Unfortunately we didn't get there in time to enter, but there was a nice cafe there with outdoor seating that we enjoyed with cappuccinos.
If you click this image to enlarge it, you can see the Blue Mosque silhouette on the Istanbul skyline, on the other side of the Golden Horn. I didn't realize we were this far away from our part of town.
Jay is the best tour guide ever. Behind Jay is the Bosphorous and the Asian side of Istanbul, on the Asian continent. When Jay was going to university, he changed continents twice a day, going to school and back home.
Jay's friend, Buket, joined us for a fun visit. When we left for our hotel (taxi again), she and Jay went to a friend's house to watch a big football game (soccer) on TV, featuring Jay's favorite team, Galatasaray.
A clock tower at the palace, dating back a couple hundred years or more. Jay says it's the world's first iPhone because the dials on it tell the time, the barometric pressure, and several other things.
