There is so much history in Istanbul. It was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire for close to 1,000 years, and then it was the capital of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 500 more. Remnants of its past glory are everywhere!Take, for example, this pillar:
Our destination was Hagia Sophia, though getting there was a bit more challenging than anticipated due to the race course. Incidentally, this great structure was the catalyst for our trip to Istanbul. It plays a role in one of my favorite books, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.The outside:
From this viewpoint, if we swiveled 180 degrees, we had a view of the impressive Blue Mosque (visited later in the trip).
Relaxing on a bench, enjoying the day:
I was reading about what to expect in Hagia Sophia:
Renovations have been going on for decades and are very slowly progressing, hence the scaffolding on the left side of this picture:
Hagia Sophia was originally a cathedral under the Byzantines (Eastern Romans) and then turned into a mosque under the Ottomans. In the 1930s, it was transformed again, this time into a museum.
Because of its history, Christian and Muslim symbols are present.
It's a bit hard to see, but this pigeon had entered the museum and is perched on a metal beam:
Still tired from our trip, we spent a fair amount of time watching him fly around.Outside was a frieze of sheep from the Byzantine period:
After our visit and just in time to soak the 4+ hour marathoners, it started to rain. Prior to leaving for Istanbul, we'd checked the weather and rain was predicted for every day. W e lucked out, as this was the only rain we'd face our entire trip.Umbrellas were everywhere and I was amazed at how quickly all of the street vendors were selling them! Since we are not made of sugar and find walking down narrow streets to be quite unwieldy with an umbrella, we just quickened our pace and walked on.
The Archaeology Museum was our destination:
As you can imagine, the historical artifacts we saw were amazing. Brian is looking at some stelae:
We never made it over to the ancient ruins of Troy, but this museum had a replica of the Trojan Horse:
The Archaeology Museum is housed in several buildings; in between buildings, we stopped for some refreshments:
Whenever we purchased a drink in a can (i.e. soda, juice), we were given a straw.Back inside, I posed next to many different ancient carvings:
I think this lion may have been my favorite piece:
Famished, we headed over to lunch. Outside of the restaurant (right along the marathon course):
We spent the rest of the day walking around, soaking up the city. Dinner was eaten at a nondescript and disappointing restaurant. We didn't even think to take a picture!Exhausted, we returned to our room. Since it wasn't as hot as the night before, we were able to close the window and get a better night's sleep as the Angry Men's Arguing Club's noises were muffled.
Mosques are generally open to visitors; however, they are closed during prayer time. Also, everyone must remove their shoes and ladies must cover their heads.
I am standing at the bottom of this column in order to give a sense of scale:
Another view of the 
There is a park in between the 
This pigeon landed gracefully in the pond:
All of a sudden, that peaceful pond turned into a fountain; the pigeon knew the routine as he flew away just before the jets started:
For lunch, we headed to a little place where we sat on cushions on the floor:
Then we walked around, heading back over to the area where Istanbul University sits.
We walked through the Grand Bazaar, though we didn't take any pictures. Istanbul ended up having much warmer weather than was predicted. I had brought along mostly long-sleeved shirts, which turned out to be a mistake. Saturday was particularly warm, so we bought a Turk 
Cats and pigeons, living in harmony:
The aqueduct:
We saw several parks that had exercise equipment in them; every time, there were also some Turks using the equipment, often wearing business attire:
A column, in repose:
You'd think we'd take more pictures on our last days, but the opposite happened. The above picture was the last one we took!