Allstar Cinar Hotel Istanbul

... other crafts. In one store there looked to be some more mass produced items, and that store was quite funny. In Safronbolu for 60 lira you can get a "Kouboy Biblo" figurine. You can also get Cowboys vs. Indians figurines and American Indians vs.Buffalo figures. You can even get an aboriginal action figure. It was really quite funny.<br><br>We were pretty done and ready to go around 9:45, an hour and fifteen minutes earlier than Jeremy's schedule had us leaving and even fifteen ...

... dressed in flowing black, floor length coats, enter the floor. As the music plays they slowly remove their black coats to reveal similar white coats underneath. (actually, they were not coats, but look more like long heavy dresses). Slowly at first, with their arms folded across their chests, they start to gyrate. As they spin they move their hands skyward until it seems that they are reaching up to the sky. On their faces are ...

... Turkish coffee, lots of greasy foods and a nice cool day to bring us back to life. Now to put our head around the overnight bus ride tonight. <br><br>We eventually make our way to the bus station for our next stop, Cappadocia. The bus is packed as I am sitting next to fellow around my age. We smile and make small talk using our limited vocabulary. Nice guy but I&#8217;m wondering what the deal with his cell phone. It&#8217;s jamming me in the side. A ...

... people and after we finished at the museum the next adventure was the castle. This castle is really cool for several reasons. With the help of thousands of masons and workers, the fortress was completed in a record time of 4 months and 16 days, which, considering the size of the castle, is very impressive. The walls are about 14 feet thick as well. The castle was built be Sultan Memmet II after he sacked Constantinople. He built the castle at the narrowest ...

... to pick the fabric and the next day, magic! The Turks are friendly people, but sometimes it can be too much and that's all I'll say on that.<br><br>That night Elise and I met up with Emma from Vancouver, the 3 of us decided a night on the town was in order. We broke out the makeup and got all girly and glammy (well, as much as we could being backpackers..) and headed to the Galata Bridge for some fine dining. The food was great. I tried ...

... and Christ. Even in its shabby state, the architecture is airy and the interior impressive. One feature at the Haghia Sophia that is interesting is not an item that one would normally even consider worthy of mention, but I can't leave it out. It is the public restroom. Most public restrooms (Water Closets or WC) in the places we visited cost you to use, about 1 euro. The one at the Haghia Sophia was free ...

... obelisk. After we headed over to the famous Basilica Cistern which is the largest of several cisterns lying underneath Istanbul. It's basically an underground chamber of 500 by 200 feet wide, capable of holding 80,000 cubic meters of water in a forest of 336 marble columns each 9 meters high. It was opened up as a museum many years ago complete with piers set out over the water so you can ...

... holy relics - the prophet's sword, bits of hair etc which, whilst very ordinary, are spectacularly displayed. It also contains many of the treasures of the Ottoman Empire including the emerald encrusted Topkapi Dagger (featured in the turgidly cheesy 1960s movie 'Tokapi') which are displayed almost mundanely (except for the seriously armed guards) by comparison to the holy relics. Rob particularly enjoyed the palaces kitchens where the food was cooked on open ...

How to get to JFK from Reading PA without making my husband drive me three hours thru the crazy New York traffic? I found "Dave's Best," a van service from Philadelphia to JFK/Newark. So a quick hour on the PA turnpike to the Doubletree hotel in Plymouth Meeting, where I met the van driver. at 9:30am. A few stops at private homes, one Conference center stop and one at Wendy's then we headed north to JFK. Roundtrip was $110 plus tip. So ...

... shaggy perm was beginning to make itself known again so it was time for another trip to the barbers. For some reason Istanbul seems more appealing than China to discuss terms with a barber. At the barbers, an absence of soft-porn (ref: Slovenia entry), made things look a little too conventional. I needn't have worried however, as following the clippers and a slightly uncomfortable dabble with a cut-throat razor, the barber took out a pair of ...