We've left the bus and we're ready to board our excursion boat for a ride on the Bosphorus.  Saddam Hussein (just kidding) is having a bit of trouble turning the bus around.

This big excursion boat has been hired just for our tour group.  Yay Trafalgar!

We're all ready to go now.  See the pilot house back there?  Mete sat on a couch in there and provided commentary for our cruise.  He pointed out all the interesting spots along the way.

A fishing boat in the Bosphorus.

And now we're underway.  It was sort of like Venice.  All along the way we saw fancy homes built right on the water.

Expensive homes.

And nice restaurants.  Would I rather be here on the boat or over there in the restaurant?  Here, I think.

All that's missing are the gondoliers.

It was a gorgeous day.

There's that bridge we crossed.

And there it is up closer.  Look at that traffic.

Another excursion boat.

Dave is taking in the sights.

Oh look!  The Turkish flag up there on the hill!  Gotta have a picture of that.

I think that must be the Bosphorus Bridge above us, and the Galata Bridge in the distance, crossing the Golden Horn.  Maybe.  I don't really know for sure.  I guess I'm lost.  But if I'm right, that has to be the Mecidiye Mosque over there on the right.  But it doesn't look like a mosque.  So sure, I'm lost.  Somebody help me out here.

They look lost, too.

There's that Turkish flag again.

With a very nice house down below.

OK, that's enough of the fine homes.

Let's have a look at the oldest structure on the Bosphorus.

This place was built in the 1700's, according to Mete.  I think.

It's not in very good shape, but it's being refurbished.

Kids swimming and dads fishing.

Looks like fun.

See that "satilik" sign?  It means, "For Sale."  It took two weeks of reading signs like that all over Turkey, but I finally figured it out. 

Looks like a fortress to me.  Anybody know what it really is?

This is the house of the Sultan's mother.  I do remember that much.

There's that fortress again.  Where exactly are we?  I can't tell for sure from my guidebook's maps.

This boat will not be sunk by the evil eye.

Mete said this is the house of the richest man in Istanbul.  I don't remember his name, but I do remember he was rich.

Lavona and Mete take in the sights.

They're catching dinner over there.

Lavona is enjoying this as much as I am.  This was genuinely a great way to spend the afternoon.

That's where Ataturk went to school.  I think.  Something like that.  I may have waited too long to write some of these captions.

I think Lavona didn't know I was snapping her picture.

But Mete caught me.

But I caught Bob.

There's a pretty mosque.

The old and the new.

A ritzy private school.

Uniforms, uniforms.

A bit sloppy, but still uniforms.

I wouldn't mind going to high school in a place like that.

Oooohhh.  The Dolmabahçe Palace.  We're very near our hotel now. 

The Dolmabahçe Palace was built by Sultan Abdül Mecít in 1856.  It is extravagant and opulent.  I didn't visit here -- the place open only for prearranged tours -- but I believe some in our group stayed behind in Istanbul for a day or two and probably visited here.

We could see the dome of this mosque from our hotel.

And this clock tower.

That's our hotel, the ParkSA, right up there on the hill.

End of the boat ride.

We had to push our way through souvenirs to get to the bus.

There, see?  That's the mosque from our hotel.