The title says it all. We woke up way too early today (Thank you jetlag) and decided to make the most of it. 40,000 steps later, I'm writing this post lying in bed ready to collapse. But what a day!!!

On a fantastic recommendation, we took a cab out at 6am to Rumeli Kale Cafe and Restaurant to enjoy a full Turkish breakfast. We took our time enjoying a spread of cheeses and jams and dips with lavash (the lavash here is so much like my favorite rumali roti), breads and hot Turkish tea against a backdrop of breathtaking views of a sunrise over the Bosphorus.

With our tummies and hearts full, we headed south along the Bosphorus strait in a slight drizzle. The views were amazing and the crisp morning air was delightful. We stopped along the way at some neighborhoods such as Bebek. My favorite part though was watching the fishermen go about their day early in the morning. We also stopped for a game of hopscotch (which I won hands down) with fishermen laughing at two grown adults arguing about the rules.

After the longish walk, we caught a bus and tram along the way to head back to old town and begin our touristy sightseeing. Fresh roasted chestnuts in hand, we braced ourselves for lines.

We began at the Cistern Basilica where we surprisingly had no wait at all. I was blown away by the engineering marvel of the reservoirs. I wasn't sure what to expect when I added it to the list of things to see but it definitely exceeded expectations. This was once a key clean water source for the entire city. The lighting and the unique art added just the right ambience. Also, since it was international women's day yesterday (shout-out to all the amazing women I know), entrance for all women was free - kudos to the city for acknowledging the very important role women play in society.

We then headed over to see Haggia Sophia - got freaked out by the line and thought we would have better luck at The Blue Mosque. We were wrong! - but braved the line anyway because there was no escaping it. Harneet bet the line would take an hour, I said 20 mins. It took 30, so I won - nuff said. The architecture of the mosque was brilliant. I put on my hoodie as a head covering, we took off our shoes and took it all in - the lovely ceilings, the stained glass and the mosaics.

Fun fact: We noticed a number of ostrich eggs around the mosque and overheard a tour guide say that its smell kept spiders away. Since killing spiders is not allowed in Islam, the ostrich eggs help keep the mosque spider free.

Time for the second line. While entrance to the Blue Mosque is free, there are tickets for the Haggia Sophia - so we got in line again. About 40 mins later, with our tickets in hand, we entered the mosque. The visiting area had some mosaics from when it was a church. The mosque was beautiful and quite different from the Blue Mosque. You could tell it was very old but well preserved.

It was approaching noon and we still had the Topkapi palace to see. We debated between going there first or grabbing lunch. We took advantage of a short line and got our tickets before getting lunch with the intention to return once we had some energy built up. The jetlag was definitely catching up. Highly recommend the place we found for lunch - it's called Gulum Pide and Lahmacun salonu where we enjoyed some Lahmacun, Pide, a salad and refreshing ayran.

With that boost of energy, we walked back to the Topkapi palace and spent a few hours there. It was so interesting to see how the sultans lived. My two favorite areas were the Harem which was the Sultans family private quarters and the Holy relics section. The Sultan and his family definitely lived in luxury and the palace demonstrated how powerful the Ottoman Empire was.

The holy relics section was also amazing. The Sultans collected relics from Moses (his staff), David(his sword), and the Prophet Mohammed (including his beard hair and tooth). Pretty spectacular.

By this time, as you can imagine, we were crashing. We headed back to the hotel to nap for an hour. Now, any sane person would say that's plenty for a day. But we are anything but sane. After waking up, I was craving some coffee. So off we went in another direction. We made our way to Karakoy, grabbed some coffee and decided to explore Istiklal Cd. - a popular street on the other side of the Galata bridge. The Galata tower is closed for renovation but there was so much else to see. This street was buzzing with people and stores and so much more. We also visited an art display of art from children in Gaza - quite heartbreaking.

After exploring, we headed over to Doyum Manti and indulged in some delicious Manti (little dumplings filled with meat or spinach and topped with a yogurt and tomato sauce). I'm going to have to try to make this at home. Feels like it could be a fun dish to cook with friends.

I know you are probably like - are they done yet? Yes - almost!

Again, what we did today should ideally have been done in 2-3 days but we just wanted to make sure we squeezed in as much as we could. We walked back over the Galata bridge before calling it a day. We will have another day in Istanbul at the end of the trip when we plan to finish explorig and visit the Bazaars. Tomorrow we head to Capadoccia first thing in the morning. I'll leave this post with some pictures from the bridge and call it a night.