An early morning in Istanbul

I've landed in Istanbul! It was dark when we came in--because our plane was early--over an hour early, landing at 4:20 instead of the scheduled 5:45! I'm not complaining about a little less time on a plane, but  coming in early meant that I had to sit around and wait for my pick up to my hotel; and then when I got to the hotel, of course they didn't have a room available for me yet--so I ended up reading and mostly sleeping in their lobby on the couch for four hours. Got my first turkish mosquito bites...

On the way out of the airport--for my futbol boys.
The Turks are fanatical about their futbol!

On the drive from the airport, the sun was coming up behind the city, reflecting on the water of the sea. It was stunning. My driver pulled over and we both jumped out of the van to take pictures--him on his smartphone, me with my camera.

Can you see the minarets?

We started off again and coming around a bend were met with the sobering view of the undercarriage of a large truck sticking out into the lane from the ditch. Apparently the driver had just lost control and flipped it, smashing into the side of the road, snapping trees in half. The dust was still settling. Always an eerie experience to come upon an accident-reminds us all how vulnerable we really are. There were already plenty of people running to help, so we drove on.

Lovely floral landscaping.

There were many lovely flower beds along the roadside and in the medians--really beautiful they way they were planted in curling patterns. We were stopped at a light when I took this picture; my picture-taking driver took one too.

The view out the window of my room. Cute little park with fountains across the way.
Notice the cobblestone roads! We are in the part of the city called Sultanahmet, where
the Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, and Aya Sofya are located!

I'm finally in my room, had a shower, and waiting for everyone else to arrive. I might have to go out exploring on my own if they don't show up soon!