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The lads in train corridor
Our sleeper cabins
The Konya ekspess
click to enlarge so you can read it
Istanbul,view from the Bosporus
Basilica cisterns,Medusa's head
Basilica cisterns,Medusa's head
The Golden Horn from Top Kapi palace
The Bosporus
View of Bosporus
Top Kapi palace,the kitchens
Top Kapi palace
Top Kapi palace,the armoury
Top Kapi palace,pavilion overlooking the Bosporus
Top Kapi palace,a very old tree
Top Kapi palace,the Bagdad pavilion
Istanbul,kiosk by the Hippodrome
The hippodrome,Theodosius column
Blue mosque,a subdome
Top Kapi palace,palace entrance
Top Kapi palace main entrance
Blue mosque,the exterior
Blue mosque ,the interior of the main entrance
Blue mosque,the dome
Blue mosque,The elephants feet
Blue mosque,leaded windows
Blue mosque
Blue mosque
stripped column,the Hippodrome
Egyptian column,the Hippodrome
Istanbul,the Hippodrome
another view of Theodosius column
Istanbul,The Hippodrome
hotel Orsep in Istanbul
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Day 2
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We all arrived in Istanbul the previous day and had our first meeting during dinner at the restaurant opposite our hotel(Hotel Orsep located very conveniently next to all the major sites in Istanbul).The group consisted of 2 irish girls,3 Canadians,1 Welsh lady and 9 other people from various parts of England and myself, 9 women and 7 men,the youngest at 29 and the oldest at 75 years old.In the morning we were given a guided tour of the remains of the Hippodrome,the Blue mosque and Top Kapi palace by Ersin (very obliging and extremely knowledgable guide) and had lunch, if you believe it or not, at the Pudding restaurant.The rest of the afternoon was spend visiting the underground cisterns and Ayia Sophia square.At around 5:30 pm we met at the hotel again to catch the bus for the ferry ride to the Asian side of the Bosporus.The ferry docks were on the other side of the Galata bridge and within 15 mins we were in Uscudar the Asian side of Istanbul at the Haydarpasha train station.We settled into our overnight sleeper cabins and we started the long journey to Konya.The cabins were simply furnished,two bunks, a folding table and a wash basin ,but comfortable enough for the night.