Heck with the baseball cap, which is bad enough. I totally do not get this taking pictures in front of everything fetish. I realize a LOT of tourists do this, but it mystifies me. Is it to prove that you've been there in case no one will believe you, or are you afraid you might forget you were there?

Of course, my DH takes "theme" pictures of benches, clocks and doors, which I don't quite get either; but at least they're somewhat artistic.

Oh, sap, I agree. It's strange to me and I think it is just that or maybe they don't really know how to take a picture. I don't get it and it's boring to look at. I can see one or two because we don't think about taking pictures of ourselves at home.

People have asked me where I am in my travel photos. Behind the camera, once in a while my husband next to a place for perspective.

peter_aus, thank you, for another "i wish i had written that" post.

some weeks ago, there was a an OP on TA asking about wearin sandals in istanbul and entering a mosque barefoot. I answered very seriously that people put their faces to the carpets when praying and that he should think again.

Just like the Fodor's the thread deteriorated but without the advantage of being at all funny.

This was one of my posts on that thread:

SOCKS FOR WALKING SHOES

Please forgive me for what follows, for the temptation is great and i have been forced to do it, possibly by a naive well-wisher from down under:
When i was in boarding school and Keds was the name of the game, our sleeping abodes were distinctly different at school than they were at our homes. Not only in terms of size, the quality of the beds and the sheets or the aesthetics of the art work on the walls.
The same was true of the military barracks in later years, although, the badly processed rubber was replaced by badly processed leather.
One major similarity in this respect between school and military was that the lifestyle required heavy walking almost everyday, wearing the same shoes for prolongued periods, in dust, mud, and water, as the case may be and then sharing the outcome with your room or barrack mates in the evening and sometimes before the evening cometh, "athletes foot" "ring worm" ingrown toes, blisters of all shapes, sizes and ripeness (LOL) and the all permeating accompanying odor and all.
The 'odor eaters' and shoe deodorizers of the day, preferred to just gaze at the subjects brought to their attention and wrinkle their faces and purse their lips with disdain.
Today, the fellow passengers in public transport try to gather at a far corner the moment they see a pair of converses (which are the current version of Keds) on even supposedly 'dainty' feet subject of much fetishism.
Socks are a good invention, to mask, delay, even prevent this type of unsocial wafts and their proximate causes, as we say in insurance jargon.

I have almost given up on TA although more people ask more of the same questions there, because the sense of humor is direly lacking and the personal rivalries cause at least one fatality a week, even among the thicker skinned.

So, do not protest over much about each other. All of you need each other to be funny, disrespectful, baiting, serious, paranoid, forgiving, unforgiving, and so forth.

otherchelebi, Not sure I understand your answer about the mosque. If you meant that shoes were not allowed in mosques you'd be correct but your answer is ambigious.

LSky. It meant, walking with dirty bare feet on carpets which people touch with their faces is a disrespect not to a religion but to the people, just as you would not want a guest to your house to use your bed pillows as a foot rest after having removed his feet from sandals he had been wearing all day long, or from sneakers with no socks.

i guess being a foreigner i have difficulty in communicating with some Americans. please try to bear my poor attempts to write in English.

Ah, I see. Thanks. I've never been to a mosque so you might know more than I. It always seemed that they would have foot washing places at the entrance? There was a restuant here in San Diego years ago and they had a fountain for washing feet before entering. I loved going there, not only for the food but I liked that ritual. :)

Many people in a mosque will not have socks. You wash your feet before going in.

I have never seen a tourist wash his feet before entering a mosque in istanbul.

the devout will have need of ablutions before praying which also requires putting your feet under running water but no soap, but the ablutions need not take place immediately befor entering the mosque. If the devout has not used a bathroom or has not had sex, or has not touched a dog, etc. since his most recent ablutions, he does not need to do them again.

I agree with that, but there will be plenty of people in bare feet in a mosque whether they've done recent ablutions or not.

You will hardly see anyone without socks in a mosque in istanbul.

But then, i have hardly seen Turks wear sandals in istanbul either.

I cannot say anything about mosques in other parts of Turkey or in other countries.

Returning to the original question of sandals-surely the gentleman is not traveling in Europe with only a pair of sandals? Wouldn't a pair of brown or black comfortable walking shoes, such a Rockports, also be included in the packing?

Children! Stop it!!! Be nice to each other, Please.