Allahu Akbar!

Our time in Istanbul is drawing to a close. The copious amounts of Turkish beer were broken by occasional tokes on the nargile (hookah) in a wonderful week in this lovely city. Will and Tiffany have been most excellent travel partners as they are both adventurous, curious, and in good shape. Believe me when I say that this last quality is essential for my break-neck walking tours.

What I’ll miss most about Turkey is the call to prayer that five times urges the Turks to worship Allah. The hypnotic chants are broadcast from the tops of minerets as they have been for centuries but with the assistance of modern speakers. Some mosques use recorded calls while others have actual men making the calls. And the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque; right next to our hotel) has the most famous Mezzin in Istanbul who has the privelage of using the six towering minerets in our area to inform the locals. And, while he has the most beautiful and calming voice in this song, we haven’t seen a single Turk stop, drop, and pray, as Tiffany says.

Istanbul is a cat-lovers dream. And conversely, Louie would be as red-eyed and runny-nosed as ever. The cats own the street and are universally cared for by the cities’ citizens. They are amazingly friendly and consistently in good health. The three that guard our hotel have intermittently made their ways into our rooms (with our supervision) to find a warm lap and some friendly hands.

I just purchased a one-way nighttime bus ride to Sofia, Bulgaria. And if you don’t know anything about that ancient city, you’re not alone. Niether do I. While I have many pictures (and even one movie replete with the Blue Mosque’s call to prayer), I’m late for meeting up with Will and Tiffany for another adventure. More will come in the coming days!