Istanbul is overwhelming in terms of the sheer number of people in every part of the city we have seen. We went to the Grand Bazaar which would be very easy to get lost in. Gill got abducted by a carpet salesman. I refused to go in the shop on the basis there was much as much chance of me buying a Ferrari as there was of me buying a Turkish carpet. The bazaar is exhausting in that there must be thousands of tiny shops and after a while they all look the same. The owners are polite but insistent in their greetings. Ignoring them seems rude but it's the only way to proceed. After an hour we had had enough and we decided to cross the Bosphorous. We discovered that for tram system is the easiest way to get around so we used that to cross over. We took a random road and discovered ourselves in a small community which specialised in hardware. Shops weighed out washers and ball bearings while others sold nothing but trolley wheels of every size. From there we went down another street which sold nothing but massive ropes and steel hawsers. We had a late lunch sitting on the pavement beside the bosphorous. I had a delicious charcoal grilled Sea Bass and Gill had roasted vegetables. After that we went off to the spice bazaar. Getting there was a major struggle as the crowds were astonishing. Thousands of people were trying to navigate a tiny passage towards the bazaar. On each side date hawkers were shouting and the din was atrocious. Once inside the bazaar it wasn't as crowded and a cavernous hall extended into the distance lined with spice, turkish delight and exotic sweets. What strikes you is the amazing range of colours. I had no Idea there were so many varieties of Turkish Delight. After leaving there we sat for a while just looking out at the boat traffic on their bosphorous. Huge tourist boats plied up and down inbetween the regular ferries that go up and down the Golden Horn. It seemed as if we truly were at the meeting place of Asia and Europe. I'm sad my knowledge of the history of this extraordinary place is so patchy. The Ottoman empire was once one of the biggest in the world and yet I know so little. Time for some history reading!