Besh Kebab, Enshah'Allah (5 Kebabs, God Willing)

2 became 3 today when Phil, Chris and I all arrived in Istanbul.

East meets west here, literally. With water separating the Asian and European sides of the city, Istanbul exhibits a dense yet beautiful confluence of culture: Byzantine and Ottoman, Roman and Greek, Christian and Muslim. Sprawling hills hug the shores of the Golden Horn, Bosphorous and the Sea of Marmara, and the hills feature a maze of narrow streets lined with shophouses, mosques, markets, museums, palaces, parks and other buildings that look like they've been around for centuries (most have). Walls from the 5th Century still surround parts of the city, the same city once inhabited by the likes of Richard the Lion Hearted and Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror.

We spent today in the Sultanahmet area and Bazaar Quarter, home to some of the oldest and most well-known sites in the city. We saw the Hagia Sophia, built over 1,400 years ago as a Byzantine Church before the Ottomans converted it into a mosque in the 15th Century (which we agreed was kind of cheap and unoriginal; they just painted over the old mosaics and added a few minarets...still, it's beautiful and the most impressive structure in a city full of them). Then we hopped across the square (which used to be the site of a 100,000 seat Roman stadium) to the Blue Mosque, which was not so blue but still very cool.

After a visit to a section of the Basilica Cistern, a cavernous underground vault which once supplied water to the entire city, we made a pit stop for some tea and sheesha before braving the Grand Bazaar. It's a huge labaryinth of stalls selling everything from hookahs to jewelry to handbags to clothing. Chris paid 5 Lira for a small souvenir, then Phil found the same for 1 Lira and celebrated. I celebrated too, for Phil. Phil and I then bought soccer jerseys of the two biggest clubs in the city and bitter rivals, Galatasaray (Phil) and Fenerbahce (me).

Chris is staying with his college friend, Duruhan, on the Asian side of the city, while Phil and I stay on the European side with the Akavis, a really nice family who used to live in Singapore and offered their place up to us during our stay. The Akavi household (Judy, Michel, Chris and Daniel) staunchly supports Fenerbahce, but they've forgiven Phil for buying the jersey of the enemy and the two of us could not have a better setup here. We enjoyed a huge home-cooked meal, Phil finally washed the India out of his clothes and we have utilized the services of Ilhan, the best driver in Istanbul (no joke).

We were unable to find a good kebab, but we will be vigilant tomorrow. All in all, it was a great start to the trip. 1 day down, 119 to go.