Yesterday after Ayasofya, I came back
here before popping in to have a look at Little Ayasofya (Kuechuek) just a stone's throw away. A beautiful space and
three men came in and prayed while I was there. Next to the mosque was a courtyard
flanked by little shops - booksellers and others- with a quiet coffee shop in
the middle. Families played together, old men sat and watched the world go by.
I then strolled down to the water's
edge which turned out to be rather uninspiring - the park area was strewn with
rubbish (as expected of course) and the traffic noise was all-pervasive.
I wandered back and enjoyed a Turkish coffee in the restaurant next door
to the main Deniz Konak building.
A bit of vege-out time watching TV and
trying to read some things on the internet, and finally around 8pm
I headed out for dinner. I took a slightly different route and stumbled on
the bazaar, walked through it and arrived at the back of the Blue Mosque.
I had dinner - Dervish Kavura and Ayran - at a touristy place with a duo
performing traditional music along with a young guy doing a dervish dance.
Music was quite good, as was the food.
I got to sleep easily
again but woke at 4am and wasn't able to get back to sleep. Eventually gave up.
It's windy this morning and not so warm yet. I think my cough might be almost
better but I'm afraid to say it in case it isn't! What a curse it's been.
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