Assos Hotel Istanbul

... everyone knows that the best musicians in Istanbul are Roma and Armenian.

Here is the menu from the wedding: Zeytinyagh Tubagi, Mevsin Salata, Pacanga Boregi, Rositeri Fuin Pilic, Meyve Tabagi, dugun Pstasi. This is not an easy language.

Then Seleh went back and started to go through a bunch of tunes until they came up with the write Anatolian ones to get the people to dance. When they are dancing, guests throw money at at the bride and groom and ...

After a relaxing day like yesterday, chatting to everyone on the rooftop, we decided to go out and see some sights, experience some experiences and generally move about a bit. With no particular aim in mind, we set out after a breakfast of two small cocktail sausages some tomatoes, a slice of cucumber, a triangle of cream cheese and some three small wedges of watermelon, accompanied by Ugur's jokes and the 9 o clock beating sun.

We set off towards Sirkeci and Eminonu ...

... puppies, plants and even leeches! Afterwards we walked back to the hostel and I went up to the rooftop terrace to chill. The terrace had a fantastic view and cushions to lounge on. I went out that night with a group of people from the hostel to a fantastic dinner and afterwards we walked around. It is currently Ramadan so there are many festivities set up all over the city including concerts and carnival rides. Later some of us decided to go out to Taksim, the area of town where ...

July 5, 2008 First morning in Istanbul! My roommmate and I woke up bright and early at 8am to grab our free breakfast. Our dorm is somewhat of a hole in the wall. It is definitely not a quaint building surrounded among mosques and shops that I had in mind. The streets are narrow and sparsely populated. The dorm itself is modern enough, equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, internet, and free breakfast. The cafeteria, however, was abandoned when we went ...

... to get his Syrian visa on the border for only 16 dollars and a 6 hour wait, a group of smiling Germans from Dresden, and a very strange bloke with a London accent who claimed he was from Cyprus but was unsure which side of the road they drive on... I downloaded the first photo of the Blue Mosque from the net - I took some cracking shots but Tom accidentally/stupidly deleted them - grrrrr!

... a very high currency exchange rate so better bring lots of $ if you are planning to shop. The jewels, watches, anklets, chains, rings, rocks, hand woven materials, sweets are nice. People there are very artistic with paintings visible almost anywhere. They have a right hand driving lane policy like in the US and Europe. Cars are majority of European makes and Japanese cars are a minority. Word of advice is, only fly there if you have extra pocket money to spare. It's true :P

... in their language an dcustoms. I am leaving Istanbul tonight on an overnight bus to Selcuk on the western coast of Turkey. After a night there I will hop on ferries through a few of the Greek Islands and then make my way up to Scotland. I finally purchased my return ticket to Florida and will be arriving in Tampa on the 29th. I hope everyone is enjoying the blogs and I look forward to seeing you soon! Scott