Best Western Eresin Taxim Hotel Istanbul

... uncomfortable anymore. After about half an hour, I got my bearıngs rıght and managed to walk back to the hostel wıthout any ıncıdents. I also bought some buah berangan on the way, whıch I hadn thought I would mıss so much!

I got there around 5, trıed to sleep, but I stıll couldnt. Also my 'bunk mates' have changed.One of them was Andy from Germany and started hıs travels from Cappadocıa. We were both ...

... trams, busses, and commuters. Men and women dressed in everything from full burqas to mini-skirts wove their way between men selling oysters with lemon, fish kababs, grilled corn, and bread. I had only been in the country for five hours, but in addition to dropping my bag on the roof of my hostel (looking up to notice that my bed had an unobstructed view of the Aya Sophia) I had been invited to take tea with several different men. I had been ...

... generated as the consumables are becoming less. How long does this go on?

Well, presumably each person who wants to make a baby, even if they think about it, hopes that all goes well on beyond the life of that baby--and maybe that baby's baby. But who wants to really contemplate further beyond that?

These are some of my muddled thoughts from the road. Along with currently wondering how much of the Ottoman administrative structure was copied/learned from the Byzantines.

... 400 years (these fun facts are all complements of little cards I found at the concierge desk at the Hilton). For the record, I was less than impressed. Boy, does that make me sound jaded. Some of the structures were cool, and the views were great. I particularly enjoyed the tile work. But overall I didn't really understand why this was such an important tourist destination. And we're walking...on to the Grand Bazaar. Not sure exactly how far it was from the Blue Mosque/Aya Sofya area ...

... side of Istanbul and back for a mear 3 Turkish Lira. We have visited the Topkapi Palace with ahhh and amazement, seeing one of the largest diamonds (86 karats), watched a whirling dirvish dance over our apple tea, visited the Taxim district only to get some sort of bug in my belly. I wish it would leave. We fly to Rome tomorrow morning and I will have the girls write some of their thoughts later. I hope all is well with everyone and I love and miss you all.

... a kettle that we used to boil some eggs as snacks) on the rooftop bar. The following days were spent visiting "Beyoglu" (the new town, whic h was a tram and furnicular ride away), actually we visited quite a few times because it was quite a buzzy place with good shops and great food. We also visited Topkapi Palace, which we didn't overly enjoy but we did really like the 42 carat diamond on display in the Treasury rooms ...

... going to someone's house. We never stood at any counter and simply handed over our passports, filled a form out and were on our way up to the room. The room was nice, (that's why we chose it), but smaller than expected. The flat screen TV is slightly bigger than my laptop screen and would be perfect if we slept standing up. What I've noticed about foreign countries, or at least the difference between various foreign countries and America is that in America, we like ...

... effort to restore the greatness of the Roman Empire. it reigned as the greatest church in Christiandom until the conquest of Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453 when it was converted into a mosque until 1935 when it was proclaimed a museum and a UNESCO world heritage location. This is truly one of the worlds great buildings. The melange of Christian and Muslim art work within its walls is a marvel to behold and upon entry into the great hall with its cavernous ceiling we ...

... or calling you pretty lady, it is kind of nice to know that after an overnight train and three months of beer, potatoes and sausages adding on the pounds, that there is a place where people find you attractive! We met back up with the others and then took the tram down to the waterfront and went on a cruise of the Bosporus Strait. Went out for dinner by the water later at a place with the biggest desert cart I had ever seen in a restaurant. We ...