Wednesday: Spice Market + streets of Istanbul

On Wednesday, the class split into 2 different business meetings.  Before our meeting, our group went to the Spice Market, which is like a farmer's market with vendors selling different spices and foods.  Some pics:

On the way to the business meeting:

And after the day of business meetings, Raminder, Sonny, and I went out and walked around the back streets of the Grand Bazaar -- full of alleys and shops that more of the locals went to (as opposed to the tourists).  We then had dinner at El Torito (I had a hamburger -- yes, that's right), and we went back to the hotel to have a blogging party.  Unfortunately, that was the night where the internet conked out, and I couldn't post anything.

Anyway, pics from the back alleys that night:

And Sonny admiring his future bedroom decorations:

Tuesday: Istanbul Stock Exchange & the Night of the Raminder

On Tuesday, we visited the Turkish Cultural Foundation, the Istanbul Stock Exchange, and Accenture Consulting. 

Some pics from the bus ride over:

And while we waited to get into the Stock Exchange:

The old boards they used to use for the stock exchange:

Yaseen made friends everywhere we went:

And the Night of the Raminder.  It'd been hard to find good veggie food for her (besides cheese pitas), so we wanted to have a night where we sought out a vegetarian restaurant (and celebrated her awesomeness).  We went back to Taksim Square, where Yaseen made another friend (this time from Georgia -- as in the former USSR) and we ate at a great vegetarian restaurant.  Some pics from the night:

If there's an iPhone around or basketball on (even in video game form), Ben is mesmerized.  Ha!

And a few pics from the subway heading back to the hotel:

Monday: walking along the waterfront

So, after about an hour at the cafe, we decided to walk along the shoreline.  Soon afterward, Wil and I continued to walk along the shoreline and some back alleyways, while the rest of the group went more inland.  Some pics from along the shoreline:

Wil, taking pics (95% of the pics I have of him are with a camera to his face, although I guess the same could be said for me on this trip):

Jellyfish right in the water next to the shore:

As we were walking, Wil and I spotted Nick and Janette sitting in a cafe across the street:

Old school weights: