Allaaaaah uAkbar. Allaaaaaah uAkbar. The Muslim call to prayer awakened us this morning at 4:30 a.m. The chant came from the nearby Blue Mosque calling the faithful from their beds to come to salvation. I snuggled back in and accepted damnation while enjoying the announcement of the rising sun and watching the sky slowly lighten. Dawn is a magical time no matter at what hour of the human clock it occurs and it is a beautiful idea that one should drop everything, even sleep, to remember that the sun has risen for millenia over this land. Conquerers have come and gone, and everday the sun rises. After a hearty breakfast, I headed out to explore the Blue Mosque, hopefully beating the hordes of tourists who would soon be arriving by the bus full. On my way I was assisted by my new best friend Mohammed who assured me that I had no cause for concern as he was not a tour guide. He would be happy, however, if I would consent to come see his uncle's shop after my visit to the mosque. Did I mention that I was an easy mark? I'm beginning to feel like Shirley Valentine. After visiting the Mosque and wandering the beautiful gardens of the Topkapi Palace, I returned to the hotel to collect Dwight. We then installed ourselves on the front row of the top deck of a double decker bus and got a nice tour of Istanbul, crossing the Bospherus Bridge to enable us to say we visited Asia. It's an immense city, one of the most densely populated in Europe with a population approaching 15 million. We saw lots of mosques. We ended the day with dinner on yet another rooftop terrace and listened to the final call to prayer as the sun set in the west. Allaaaaah uAkbar.
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