Alright, sorry for keeping ya'll waiting, but I had to wait until some other people of our group put their pics on the net, cause frankly, many of my own pics were for some reason a bit vague. But since we all saw the same things, that doesn't really matter.
farm3.static.flickr.com/2349/2470647389_d73f8210b8.jpg?v=0Here's a link to a picture of our entire group. You can find me in the bottom row, second from the left.
Let's start with the big highlights, the two great temples that you can see from afar, the first is the Blue Mosque, and the other the Hagia Sophia, once a church, then a mosque, now a museum.
We also went inside both buildings, which was really awe-inspiring. The Hagia Sophia was really interesting because of all the beautiful mosaics, the Blue Mosque was, like most mosques we visited, really colorful and well, judge for yourself.
First some pics of the Hagia Sophia. Here's a very famous mosaic, though only one out of many:
And of course an attempt to get the whole picture of the interior, though with the ramps that was quite impossible. Still, I found the ramps impressive too, in a way. It was all simply huge.
And here is an impression of the Blue Mosque.
But my personal highlights weren't these temples. I myself was most impressed by the magnificent view of the city. If you're not familiar with the topography, Istanbul lies by the Bosporus, a small straight that leads from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. As such it seperates Europe from Asia, and of course I can now boast I have been in Asia. Yeah.
But the most beautiful part is that the European side is also kind of divided by an inlet of the sea, called the Golden Horn, which seperates the Galata area from the old city center, the Golden Cape, where the temples above are. In Galata, there is a tall, old tower from which we could almost see the entire city, and that I will never forget. When you stand there, you simply can see why they built a city here in the first place, and you can imagine the battles that took place there and the trade and everything. Here are two pictures: first the tower itself, then a picture of a friend of mine on the tower, in front of the view. Sadly, pictures don't capture the entire image. You got to go there for yourselves!
Now on to the palaces. We visited some of those. One was an old Byzantine castle near the Theodosian walls, the massive, famous walls of the city.
Then there were the Topkapi and the Dolmabace Palaces. The Topkapi was the residence of the Sultans until the about 1800, the Dolmabace was the new palace that replaced it. Most people prefered the Dolmabace, but I didn't. Dolmabace was too European for my liking, which was actually what the sultans wanted. Topkapi was simply amazing, situated as it was in a great park at the tip of the Golden Cape. It was divided into three walled areas, the outermost open to all, the second open to the sultan's officials, and the innermost only to the sultan, his harem and the eunuchs. The palace itself was amazing, but there were rooms that were used as a museum, with weaponry (including armors, swords, polearms, early firearms, some ceremonial, others for actual use) or relics (Mozes' staff, Muhammed's teeth and beard, David's footprint etc) and all the riches you can imagine (a dagger of gems, an 86 carat diamond, Ming vases, clothing, ivory statues, and much more), simply too much to mention. Then there were the royal bathrooms, bedrooms etc, and of course the council room. It had all the things you would expect and more.
Well, that's just a few samples of Topkapi. The Dolmabace was kind of the same, but everything was just a touch too much in my opinion.
Sadly, it wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the palace, but think big chandeliers, large carpets, golden mirrors and many paintings, and you've got the picture.
Now we also visited several museums. One of them was especially great, about Eastern archaeology. We saw mummies, sarcophaguses, statues, part of an ancient treaty between the Egyptians and the Hittites, Babylonean mosaics, zillions of unidentified fragments of pottery etc. Here's a few pics:
A hittite lion statue (1300bc):
For those who seek a mission in life, start puzzling already:
Part of the museum:
The parts of the treaty:
Well, that's but a few things we went to, but certainly my highlights. Other things we saw were the old cisterns, underground water reservoirs; an aquaduct, many, many mosques and two churches (one of which was made of metal), went to the Dutch consulate, and of course, there was time to relax too. We had a boat trip through the Bosporus, and the weather was great that day. It was certainly the best boat trip I've ever had. We smoked waterpipe, drunk dozens of different kinds of Turkish tea, ate much fish and kebap, went out to Taksim at night, even went to a ballet performance once (a first-timer for me, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised). Then there were the riots, perhaps you have heard of them on the news. We had to avoid the Taksim square several days because the police were trying to suppress demonstrations. We could at times see big clouds of smoke rising up from that part of town, so taking a look didn't seem like a good idea.
I'll end with a picture of the Blue Mosque at night. Walking there at night was magic, especially during the call for the evening prayer, when every mosque in the city began to recite the call to prayer, each in turn. Perhaps that was even more amazing than all the sights above.
If you still haven't had enough, I'll include a link here to an album of another group member.
www.flickr.com/photos/gsvexcalibur/sets/72157604914607020/And if that doesn't satisfy still, I suggest you book a flight to Istanbul.
Have fun. 
But the most beautiful part is that the European side is also kind of divided by an inlet of the sea, called the Golden Horn, which seperates the Galata area from the old city center, the Golden Cape, where the temples above are. In Galata, there is a tall, old tower from which we could almost see the entire city, and that I will never forget. When you stand there, you simply can see why they built a city here in the first place, and you can imagine the battles that took place there and the trade and everything. Here are two pictures: first the tower itself, then a picture of a friend of mine on the tower, in front of the view. Sadly, pictures don't capture the entire image. You got to go there for yourselves! 
