The Bosphorus from one of the balconies in the Sultan's pavilion.
Istanbul is Europe's largest city with more than 15 million. Like any big city, smog is a problem.
Everywhere you look iin Istanbul there are mosques with their minarets, but few Muslims are truly observant..
The Topkapi Museum is in the former palace of the Sultans and is surrounded by serene parks and fountains.
One of the doorways in the Topkapi Museum which is filled with the incredible wealth of the Sultans who ruled before the Ottoman empire..
The prayer center in the museum includes a chanting muezzin and elaborate ceilings.
The museum houses thousands of richly-decorated gifts that were presented to the sultans over the centuries.
The famous Sultan's Dagger. Watch the 1964 movie Topkapi for more details.
The sultans enjoyed their afteroons in one of the two breezy pavilions.
The Bosphorus Strait is one of the busiest waterways in the world.
The famous Blue Mosque is an active mosque with well-maintained tiled ceilings.
The tile ceilings are exquisite.
Islam does not allow pictures of animals or people in places of worship, so they use intricate geometric patterns.
Every inch of the blue mosque is ornamented.
The highest dome includes windows which lighten the entire building.
The Hagai Sophia church was eventually converted to be a mosque and is now just a museum. It is larger than the Blue Mosque, but not as well maintained.
When converting to a museum, ancient Byzantine mosaics and frescos were found under the plastered walls the Muslims used when converting the church into a mosque.
The smaller Rüstem Pasha Mosque in Istanbul is tiled with Turkish Iznik tiles and more lovely than all the rest.
The Pasha mosques uses Moorish motifs in the arches and door ways.
The tiles include many Koranic verses.
Even the doors to the Pasha mosque are carved with mother-of-pearl inlays.
In the nearby bazaar, you can buy anything, but gold and spices are a regional specialty.
Who knew there were so many types of pepper?
And there apparently is a different kind of olive for every occasion.
The easiest way to know you are in a Turkish Bazaar catering to tourists.
