Blaise left Madison mid-afternoon Wisconsin time, traveling to Istanbul to meet Nancy and Jim. This involved a short flight Madison → Chicago, an ~11 hour flight Chicago → Istanbul, and a hour long bus ride to get downtown. The most remarkable experience was the Turkish Airlines flight, which involved an unprecedented level of hospitality. Every passenger was given two excellent meals, blanket, pillow, eye masks, slippers, headphones, and seemingly countless other little amenities. It's easy to see how Turkish Airlines got its reputation.
Turkish Airlines airplane that took Blaise from Chicago to Istanbul. 
Dinner served to Blaise by Turkish Airlines:
Breakfast served to Blaise by Turkish Airlines:
Arriving in Istanbul (early evening Istanbul time), Blaise was greeted by Nancy and Jim at the bus stop. Blaise was able to unpack before the three of them had a very nice meal at the restaurant across the street.
Nancy and Blaise started the morning with a walk along the Sea of Marmara, near the hotel. They saw divers with harpoons, fishermen, cats and dogs near the sea. After walking along the water for roughly 30 minutes, they turned around and returned to the hotel through the city. This included passing through the seafood restaurant area, several blocks worth of just seafood restaurants.
View of the Marmara sea. 
Seafood restaurant district. Early in the morning, so most restaurants are closed. At 10:30 Nancy, Jim, and Blaise went on a guided tour of Hagia Sophia. On the way, they explored the Hippodrome and saw the Alman Çeşmesi.
Alman Çeşmesi, exterior. 
Alman Çeşmesi, interior. 
Hagia Sophia as seen from the Hippodrome. Their guide was from Bulgaria, with a mother born in Erzincan. There was a long line to enter into Hagia Sophia, but once inside it wasn't too crowded. The entire building is under constant restoration, exterior and interior.
Hagia Sophpia exterior, detail. 
Outer corridor. 
View of inner corridor, detail of main door only to be used by emperors.
Internal sanctuary of Hagia Sophia.
The top dome has 40 windows.
One of the triangular pendentives can be seen, a large architectural innovation at the time.
Much is under restoration.
Interior shot of Hagia Sophia, featuring stained glass windows.
The door-like structure is oriented towards Mecca for Muslim prayer.
The lamps were placed low to the ground so that they could be lit as candles. 
Special stairway used by Muslims for delivering messages to congregation. 
Interior of Hagia Sophia, featuring column detail and special lamp.
Interior of Hagia Sophia, focusing on angel artwork.
Muslims believe that all faces must be covered in worship areas.
The face of this angel was covered when Hagia Sophia became a mosque.
Looking out from Hagia Sophia.
In the distance, the minarets of the blue mosque can be seen. After Hagia Sophia Nancy, Jim, and Blaise toured the streets of Istanbul including several bazaars. First, they visited the grand bazzar.
One of the entrances to Istanbul's grand bazaar. 
Jim and Blaise inside the grand bazaar. 
Lighting store inside the grand bazaar. 
Water closet of the grand bazaar.
All toilets were pay-to-enter.
They were squat toilets.Then the spice market, a smaller bazaar near Galata Bridge with a focus on spices and food.
The spice market. 
Nancy and Blaise at the spice market. 
Large chunks of turkish delight being displayed at the spice market. There were even markets in unexpected places, such as this one which they stumbled upon in a tunnel underneath the interstate.
A bazaar located in a tunnel under the interstate.
At 17:00 Nancy, Jim, and Blaise went on a guided boat tour of the Bosophorus straight.
Bosophorus tour route.