We struck out on our own, walking past the fortressed walls of Istanbul University, under a stone archway, then down a narrow cobblestone road to reach Süleymaniye Mosque.

Angie bought a blue headscarf from a small shop across the road, so as to be allowed into the mosque.

In the outer courtyard, we first paid our respects at 16th-century Ottoman Sultan Süleyman's tomb, then at his wife Roxelana's.

She apparently had a good sense of humor. A nearby posted letter to her husband told of her drinking the eau de cologne he had sent her as a gift.

"And—oh! What do you think happened?" she wrote. "I dozed considerably, and someone flicked my nose. You have made me into a laughingstock."

We strolled through the cemetery and approached the mosque's main entrance.

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