Istanbul, and Jesse's arrival

I spent two full days in Istanbul, soaking up the sights and sounds
both before and after the arrival of my reinforcements in the form of
JR Elzinga esq.

While there I found myself no longer the only tourist in town, and had
to deal with the tourist hoardes and their ever-snapping camera
fingers. Haghia Sophia was full of them, the Blue Mosque moreso; in
the latter I overheard one American ask his tour guide "so the Koran
is basically the same as the old testament, right?"

Looking beyond the tourists, it was a fun experience, and the Rustem
Pasha mosque as recommended by Trish was a nice antidote to the other
tourist-packed attractions. I caught up with Mehmet and Asli, old
friends from BCG in NY, who took me out for a fabulous dinner on the
Bosphorus.

And then Jesse arrived, causing further bafflement to the
already-bemused staff at the W Istanbul. Having seen me roll in on a
bicycle and not known whether to park the thing or have me ejected,
the arrival of a second bearded bicycling ruffian entertained them no
end. I am reasonably certain that the W has not played host to bike
tourists thus far, and I'd be willing to bet that it will be some time
before it does so again! This is a shame, however, since Cem the
concierge is a total legend who moonlights as a logistical planner for
foreign bike touring groups, so he really knows his stuff.

Today we had a slow start, but made up for it with 180k after lunch,
putting us right on the Greek border. Tomorrow morning we'll turn
right, go about 500m and then enter the border formalities.

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