2nd day in Istanbul

Istanbul greeted me today with a wide range of things. After having a breakfast with my room mates at the hostel's bar, sunshine was replaced by rain,but still relatively warm compared to Lithuanian weather. I had to buy an umbrella with smiley faces. Me and taiwanese girl decided to team up for city explorations - I hadn't seen anything , so I was ok with anything she wanted to see. There was Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia and Grand bazaar on our goal list for starters. But our plan got influenced by circumstances. There was a major power outage in almost all Turkey for more than a half of day. Metro's were not working at all, no electricity in most shops, some did have generators. Walking to our goal was not the only option, but probably the most reasonable one. And when you are in a new country, you can get lost, or you can get sidetracked by many things. And we were. So, yes having a good time was a reasonable way to fight rain and the power outage. And once we reached the Galeta tower, the rain was already defeated. The we headed towards the Galeta bridge through the narrow streets of local industry on display. It seems like there in Istanbul they like to dedicate a whole street for one kind of business. Anything from cutting glass and plastics to selling music instruments or making wedding invitation cards. At the bridge in the fish market we had our lunch - a fish sandwich and after a short photo session we carried on. At this point it seemed that the rain was coming back and with heavy clouds. We were encouraged to hurry to the other side. There almost always being at the edge of feeling lost and knowing where we are we walked to the Blue Mosque, though we were first aiming for Hagia Sofia. Going inside is a whole new experience. First if you are a woman, you have to cover your hair, and if you wear really tight trousers, you have to get a skirt. The when everybody takes off their shoes, a heavy stink of everyone's feet greet you. Those who come there for prayers actually wash their feet outside. But tourists don't. After mosque, we went to Hagia Sofia only to realize it was already closed. But the surroundings are still very nice. Next stop was to watch sunset. So, we made it there, but the sun has hidden in the clouds, so it was only the pastel shades of sky. From there we already could use a tram and hurry to pickup my late friend from the airport station. Funny thing, she was not tired at all carrying her 10 kilos bag as she was always running in front of us.