Day 14 of Turkey Vacation: Istanbul on September 1st, 2016

Last day in Istanbul and in Turkey.
As a result of yesterday's missing ferry, the plan of the day was to first visit Eyüp, then take the ferry back to Eminönü as a tour of the Golden Horn. After that, it's Sultan Ahmet Mosque that we failed to visit during the previous days due to its prayer time, and finally make our way to the airport.

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Since Google Maps didn’t support the bus system of Istanbul, in the previous days we had been trying to avoid the bus system of the city. For the last day, however, I found Istanbul City’s official app of its bus system, and it showed that there was a bus line leaving Istanbul University that would take me to Eyüp.

I chose to take the cable car uphill, and walk downhill.

There was a cafe named after the French novelist Pierre Loti up the hill (by the way the name of the hill was also "Pierre Loti"). It's said that Pierre Loti met and fell in love with a lady when he was living in Istanbul near the Eyüp region.

Eyüp Sultan Mosque

After I finished the tour of Mount. Pierre Loti, there was still time to kill before the hourly Golden Horn ferry departed. So I visited the nearby Eyüp Sultan Mosque, which was not the grandest church in the city, but still very well-decorated.

After arriving at Eminönü Dock, I attempted to visit Yeni Mosque once again, and found it still closed.

After that, I walked towards Sultan Ahmet Mosque, passing the Egyptian Bazaar and the winding streets of Istanbul Old City, perhaps for the last time.

Luckily, Sultan Ahmet Mosque was open to visitors this time.
Of the many mosques in the city of Istanbul, Sultan Ahmet Mosque was the most considerate to its non-Muslim visitors, as it provided free garments that meet Islamic standards, especially for women.

Having visited Sultan Ahmet Mosque and still early in the day, we walked across Hippodrome of Constantinople to Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, which was covered by our museum passes.
By the way, the valid period of the Turkish Museum Pass was 14 days, just enough for our entire visit.

After that, we walked back to our hotel and picked up our luggage, took the tram to some shopping mall in West Istanbul and spent the rest of our Turkish Lira on gifts and foods, and made our way to the airport.

END