The Mehtar Band in Istanbul

Yet another strolling day along the Golden Horn, through the districts of Fener (the old Jewish section of Istanbul) and Balat. It was interesting to see the daily life of the neighborhoods as well as the sites along the way. There are still a number of old churches along the way, Church of St Theodosia, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, St Mary of the Mongols and the Metochion of Mount Sinai.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr)
The walk took us though winding streets and cobbled streets. We ended our walk at the Palace of Blachernae.

There, we met a man who was working on the excavation of the old prison between the Tower of Issac Angelus and the Prison of Anemas. The site was fascinating- down a concrete stairway into the substructure of the palace. The dungeons were massively deep and you had to marvel at the sheer size.

After all of our trips to Istanbul, we finally got to the Military Museum. It was huge and we made it in time for the Mehtar Band’s performance. The band was dressed in Ottoman costumes, playing old Turkish instruments. It was a remarkable site- even more interesting to watch the audience as they sang along to all of the songs (men and women alike).
We had an early dinner at our favorite doner kebap place in Taksim.