Day 1: Istanbul in the Locals Quarter

We spent the first night in Istanbul, just passing through on our way to Syria. We had half a day to look around before our flight, and discovered that our hotel was in a neighborhood dominated by locals, not tourists, which was very interesting.
The kitty below is the first of many. In Turkey and Syria, cats were everywhere, and although most of them appeared to be homeless, everyone fed them, and they were friendly and happy.
Not sure which mosque this was, as we had no idea what neighborhood we were in, but it was a big one.
Cool ancient aqueduct.

We found a market and restaurant area that was definitely for the locals. We didn't know what this vegetable was called, but people were walking around eating it.

Dried eggplant.


Cute little goats resting in the shade. But it gets more ominous.
This is what they were resting under. Let's hope those weren't their relatives hanging skinned above.

I forgot what this was, but I think it's dried carob.
Ancient graveyard near the mosque.