Day 4- The Spice Bazaar

I'm really embarrassed to admit this, but on Day 4 we called up a tour company and arranged a tour package. It felt like admitting defeat, like I couldn't handle touring Istanbul on my own. I've always made fun of those lame-0 tourists getting herded around on giant tour buses and now I was one of them. But you know what? It was awesome. For one day, I didn't have to worry about how to get around, what to do, where to eat, etc. Plus the kids were free.

We opted for the Bosphorus package. Basically, we were looking for an easy way to cross the Bosphorus strait so we could say we had been to three continents in the last week- Africa, Europe and Asia. The Bosphorus package also included a trip to the Spice Market and the Rustem Pasha mosque.

Side note, there were two other groups on the tour with us- an Indonesian family and an American father-daughter couple from... TEMPE, ARIZONA! So strange. They were the only other Americans saw during our time in Turkey and they happened to be from Arizona.

On the drive there we saw bits and pieces of the old city walls.

The Yeni Camii or New Mosque was just outside the Spice Market, but we didn't have time to go inside.

The boys loved the pigeons.

The Spice Bazaar is also known as the Egyptian Bazaar. The sign above says it was completed in 1664.

We tried lots of Turkish delight.

It was pretty crowded that day (was it a Friday, I can't remember). Poor Clark ended up carrying both the boys so they didn't get trampled.

Another shot of the New Mosque.

Kestane or roasted chestnuts.

Roasted corn.