Dedeman Istanbul Hotel

... I have a hard time learning languages - beside the constant ringing of the ears.<br> Anyway, I picked up a newspaper on my visit into Istanbul this time and even though I have been there many times, I was a tad bit or somewhat affected by one of the lead stories. The story claimed that Turkey has slipped in its "narrowing of the gender gap" As I was reading it, the article stated that ...

... how him and his brother are going to open a restaurant in Australia. Turkish people are all very friendly and happy to help you. If you look lost, they will just stop you on the street and try to give you directions, without you asking for help. At first you don't know if they want to help or to sell you something. Speaking of selling, we met the world's best Wet Wipes salesman in Old Town. He honestly said he is the World's best. He wanted to make sure I would tell people that.

Monday was a travel day. We drove from Delphi back to the Athens airport, about 3 hours. We turned in the car -- no scratches, no dents. My driving record in Greece is clean! We had a couple of hours to kill before our flight so we visited the airport chapel and museum. The museum contains things they found when they were building the airport. Then we had to go through passport control since we were changing countries, which took a ...

... for cooking and tourists buying...stuff. I also managed to get a little treat and sneak it into a box of stuff I needed to send home. No, not that kind of stuff. I haven't really bought anything, except a couple of gifts I could only get in Jerusalem. No, I sent home a bunch of books and papers from my course that I don't need to lug around. So I found the post office and sent off a box. Then I ran back home for a bit before heading out for the major ...

... the valleys we found semi-wild orchards of apple, quince, pears, pomegranates and grapes to snack on. We also took an organized tour to visit underground cities (8 stories below ground) and a river valley with churches carved into the sides of cliffs. In the evening we leared to play backgammon. All over Turkey you see men drinking tea and banging away at backgammon. Now when we inquire about hotels, we not only ask if the ...

... whole new continent! We thought the Asian side would be more quaint, old, and sparsely populated, but it was not at all! As soon as we got off, we saw a huge mob of people congregated for a really intense election campaign. The sea of red Turkish flags (some with Ataturk on them) swallowed us. I happened to be wearing a red shirt, so I blended in quite well, especially with my newly acquired mini-flag. The police searched our bags and checked ...

... long tram and metro rides west through commercial, industrial and residential areas, then the truck ride across the whole city to the east showed the incredible size of the city, which has a population of between 10-16 million, depending upon which source you rely. From the road, which was generally elevated, on the hillsides at the edge of the city, you could see back into the city area, with thousands of high ...

... in a hospital recovering. He had to have airport personnel assist him so that he could walk. So yes, even the beginning of the trip was interesting. I flew to Chicago where an airline employee directed me to the wrong terminal. The Chicago O'Hare terminal is the size of a small town but more difficult to traverse than most big cities. The misdirection cost me half an hour, which after the 3 hour delay in Omaha gave me about a half hour to get from one terminal ...

... that I had previously met at other places in Turkey, as Istanbul is on everyones hit list and is typically the place people enter or leave the country from, so it is very transient and common to run into familiar faces. After a good nights sleep in my 14 bed dorm at the Big Apple Hostel, I ate the typical free breakfast provided all over turkey - tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, bread , and jam. Then I headed out to explore the sites. First up was the Underground ...

j'arrive en début de nuit sans réservation et sous le froid à l'aéroport. Par chance, je rencontre un turc qui m'emmène en ville et me dégotte un hotel le long des remparts de Topkapi. Pour le remercier on va boire un verre (à 2h du mat) et finalement, ils me rincent toute la soirée ... Je ...