An overall excellent day, with lots of pictures to post!

We started out with a breakfast that was pretty delicious but not quite as good as yesterday's. The cafe was very cute, though.

After breakfast we proceeded to Galata Tower. This is an ancient tower (built in 1348) that overlooks the eponymous neighborhood. Lots of great views. A funny thing about Istanbul (from an American perspective) is that there just seems to be so many historical buildings that no one is too precious about them. In the USA, it seems like any building predating the 20th century is considered historic and cannot be altered in any way. Imagine our surprise on reaching the top of the tower and entering a cafe that could easily pass for the interior of a Starbucks, complete with loud pop music playing. Unsurprisingly, the tower provides quite the view of the city, although it was a bit hazy out.

I thought all the activity on the water was neat, so took a short video.

The view also demanded at least one panoramic shot.

We didn't spend all that much time at Galata Tower since we had to get to our next adventure: a tour of the Bosphorus Strait via ferry. The Bosphorus Strait, as part of the boundary between Europe and Asia, splits Istanbul in two. It connects the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea (which, eventually, connects the Mediterranean Sea), and is apparently the narrowest strait that sees international traffic.

Despite it being very cold out on the water, the tour did not disappoint. I took a ton of pictures but will try to restrict myself to posting only the best (well, only the ones I like the most, which is pretty subjective).

The Galata Bridge, which we crossed on the way to the ferry terminal. Absolutely packed with fishermen.

Grace looking happy and beautiful.

We looking... perturbed? I'm not sure what happened there. Slightly less beautiful.

The Yeni Cami (New Mosque), as seen from aboard the ferry.

The Suleymaniye Mosque sitting atop a hill.

Grace doing her thing.

Our fellow tour participants, the Ortakoy Mosque, and the Bosphorus Bridge.

A big ship. I took a lot of pictures of these, probably to Grace's chagrin but maybe my (two year old) nephew will enjoy them. Not sure what that says about me.

He who holds the camera holds the power (to avoid being photographed).

Another view of the Ortakoy Mosque.

Some compound on the top of the hill. Pretty, but not sure what it was. The audio tour guide was not helpful for this one, nor was Google.

If I remember correctly, this is a military academy.

Pretty red and white houses amid the green.

Another big ship.

Didn't notice the guy in the neon yellow jacket waving to us until now.

No smoking.

The Rumelishisari, a fortress constructed between 1451 and 1452, flanked by the Faith Sultan Mehmet Bridge, completed in 1988 (the second of the only two bridges spanning the strait).

The underside of the Faith Sultan Mehmet Bridge is surprisingly smooth. Maybe that's a strange thing to notice. Are all suspension bridges like that?

The seaside village of Kanlica, along with swooping seagulls. The seagulls followed our ferry for the entire duration of the tour, hoping for (and often receiving) snacks.

Big ships are cool, okay?

I found these tanks in Cubuklu to be surprisingly photogenic, but I have no idea what they're for.

After turning around at the end of our tour, we starting heading into the wind, making it a lot colder outside. Grace is braving the winds here, shortly before we both took cover inside.

The ferry company's (rather handsome) insignia.

This big ship has wood.

Another view of the Rumelihisari.

The MV Savarona. I just thought she was pretty, but apparently she also has quite the interesting history, being built in 1931 for an American heiress and eventually being transferred to the State of Turkey, almost destroyed in a fire, and rebuilt. Now exclusivley used by the President.

After the Bosphorus tour we headed over to Ortakoy, where we were meeting my brother-in-law's brother for dinner. I'm not really sure what that relation is called. Is he just another variant of brother-in-law? I'm sure both Chinese and Bengali (among many other languages, perhaps predominantly Asian ones, though) have specific names for the relation, but I'm not sure English does. Anyway, we went to Ortakoy to meet him. We arrived a bit early to explore the area, as we had heard it was interesting. There were a lot of cool little shops, a beautiful (and beautifully lit) mosque, and a whole bunch of baked potato stands offering all manner of toppings. Apparently a local (very local - pretty much restricted to that neighborhood) specialty. We were pretty hungry and very tempted but decided to save our appetites.

The Ortakoy Mosque at night.

The Bosphorus Bridge (pleasantly lit up) at night.

Another view of the Ortakoy Mosque and Bosphorus Bridge.

Grace!

Both of us!

A cool arch/sign.

Dinner was great, though we were foolish and took no pictures of the event itself. It was nice to hang out with a larger group of people and get to know my brother-in-law's family a bit better.