Istanbul: The End

I've gone on and on now for several days about Istanbul, and didn't even mention a lot of the major tourist sites, like Topkapi Palace ...



... or the Hippodrome, the old horse-racing track, decorated with an obelisk the Romans looted from Egypt (see, antiquity-looting didn't even start with the Turks) ...


... or the Great Mosaic, the only remaining relic of the Byzantine emperors' palace ...


... or the Basilica Cistern, built by Justinian to collect and store water from the aqueducts, but really a work of art in its own right:


But it's time to bring this set of blog entries to a close, so I'll leave you with the image of Istanbul that I think I will always come back to. 1,500 years strong, and still going. Thanks for reading and I'll see you after my next trip!