Following yesterday’s marathon I slept in and took it easy till noon working on emails and my diary. I went out for a walk to locate the Basilica Cistern which I will visit at opening time tomorrow.
Then I found a lunch place, its not hard, it seems that every third shop is a restaurant. This place was a bit away from the tourist area so it had a bit of local colour. The man at the adjacent table was smoking a water pipe which was a bit distracting because it kept gurgling, while his wife, all covered up in black, fiddled with her phone. A couple of people ordered a dish which was cooked and served in a clay pot which had to be broken open with a flourish at the table. I had a Turkish dish that is best described as a sloppy pizza. It was a mystery ground meat drowned in tomato sauce on a flat Turkish bread that had been cut into little squares with a generous dollop of yoghurt. Quite tasty.
After that I went to the archaeological museum and wandered around getting thoroughly involved with the various ages of antiquity. It is amazing how central this area has been to human civilisation going as far back as far as 400,000 years.
I also stumbled across the garden shown in the picture located in the grounds of the Topkapi Palace. It's spring in Istanbul and this is tulip festival time. There are flowers everywhere including along the highway.