Hilton ParkSA Istanbul

Sultanahmet (Hippodrome) , the heart of Istanbul named after Sultan Ahmet &#8211; I, has a rich, interesting and a varied history to boast about. A place where you will find several historical world monuments and places stocked together. It has Ayasofya, Topkapi Palace, the famous Istanbul Archeological Museums, the Blue Mosque and the Great Palace Mosaic Museum among many other famous places.<br><br><br> The exotic beauty of the place called Sultanahmet ...

... ng r&#305;ngs and hold hands as we stroll as any other couple does. He &#305;s l&#305;ke my brother so at t&#305;mes I cant help but burst out laugh&#305;ng but &#305;t works for us and prov&#305;des hours of laughter and worse th&#305;ng about &#305;t &#305;s . . he snores! I do love h&#305;m all the same. <br>After arr&#305;v&#305;ng at the lounge last n&#305;ght I had to use the bathroom . . I asked Al&#305; where &#305;t was and he po&#305;nted me to the back room wh ...

... here are nice.<br><br>After stuffing our faces at the hostel on an impressive spread of cucumber, tomatoes, olives, jam, boiled eggs, fresh crispy bread and a slab of feta cheese, we soon headed out for the day, with some people that we had met from the hostel in Varna. Dave an American who lives in Istanbul was our tour guide for the day. He had also gotten off a bus that morning from Varna but his was a couple of hours ...

... As evening fell, we followed the sounds of music to a small restaurant where a small group was playing gypsy type music, then to another where Turkish folk music was the specialty. For a while we watched a woman making large thin flour tortillas toasting them on a griddle and filling them with meat or honey, depending on the order. The Blue Mosque is now fully lit, not only with electric lights but by the light of the ...

... my of the Greek spinach pies.  Needless to say, we all enjoyed the food we ordered and tried. From lunch, we walked a few minutes up to their flat.  This is a new one for them as they just moved in about 6 months ago.  Wylla was home with a cold but she had tea waiting for us when we got there.  It was here that more talking happened.  Are you surprised????  We met Wylla's turtle that won't sleep, talked about family tree stuff as Mom had brought their family ...

... listen Turkish torture music coming from the streets.There is the awkward feeling of familiar which makes me feel both at comfort and discomfort. Comfort because my family lives here and each moment i have with them is a blessing. Discomfort because every time i visit Istanbul,it gets more clear that i don`t want to live in here or in Turkey ever again. We went to a few malls with dad and did the usual `buy-whatever-you-want-to-buy` shopping ...

... dorm and napped. I actually saw my dorm crush in the kitchen and chatted with him the whole time. To continue our fab day, we went to Fasuli, a restaurant that has a nice terrace and the juiciest chicken and beef we have had in Istanbul. Two of our new Turkish friends were there as well, so we joined them for a fantastic dinner and view of the sea. I would say that the Day of Pamper was a definite success and one of my top 5 days in Istanbul!

... a locals area rather than a tourist area. End up on the waterfront for a while, then back up into Sultanahmet. Go into the Blue Mosque, which was constructed between 1606 and 1616, has six minarets, and is enormous inside, with wonderful stained glass windows, and four huge pillars holding up the dome. Out and walk across the path to Aya Sofya, which was orginally completed in 537 to show the greatness of the ...

It was great on the airplanes, but not so great on the food. We got off the plane in Paris and then we got onto our plane, then got on our car in Istanbul. Mommy and Asher and Gracey was also on the plane. Asher and Gracey have been writing on the plane, but Asher went to sleep on the plane. Gracey wrote the mosted than Asher. Daddy got the room key.

... check in Turkey, wrestled a bit with some pushy line avoiding Romanians...and hopped back on the train to continue sleeping. The weather is cold, stormy and windy...hard to believe this is the same city as the hot muggy sunny place of my last visit...