Our first full day in Istanbul has been exhilarating.  Our guide is very informative, fun and helpful and we covered a lot of territory - by foot, boat, minibus (dolmus), and aggressive taxi.  The tulip festival is underway and beautiful.  We rode on the Bosphorus, entered a mosque and learned the protocol for that, had lunch in a park overlooking many tulips and fountains, and walked through the spice bazaar.  No purchases until later as we have several weeks of carrying everything on our backs until we return to Istanbul at the end.  Once here, it is hard to remember the various anxieties about time in Turkey.  This is a very European city with many tourists from all over, not so many Americans.  Great fun.  Our guide has been a good tutor in Turkish as well, and I am making progress.