Hotel Vicenza Istanbul

... around and stretch his wee legs.

We were meant to go to an orientation for our school that day, but couldn't be asked to after the flight, so we spent the day exploring the area around the flat and relaxing from the trip. We had somehow lucked out and landed ourselves smack in the middle of the most popular district in Istanbul. We had just been looking for something along the subway, and had managed to find a place ...

... direction for the Bazaar. We thought it looked great when we first got inside because it is a huge undercover area with lots of alleyways and side parts and very glitzy with lots of jewellery and shiny things. It turned out to be about 10 different stalls repeated about 400 times. They weren't at all friendly to us and didn't even want to negotiate. I think they all thought because we were from ships that we had ...

... crosses had been painted over with islamic patterns. Cesca even put her hand in a hole in a weeping column which gave good luck if you felt any moisture - no luck for us today! We spent ages wandering around before heading back outside and crossing the short distance across to the Blue Mosque. This working mosque is another of Istanbul's most famous sights and is so called due to the many blue tiles inside decorated with islamic patterns ...

... way from the airport to Sultanahmet (downtown) via metro and tram. Upon arrival we confused the Aya Sofya and Blue Mosque, therefore we spent a little longer walking around with our packs than we planned. We were very impressed with how modern this part of the city is; there were many parks and spring flowers blooming and we could both see why some refer to Istanbul as the Paris of the east. After checking in to our pensýon we ...

... that was described on the internet "as a bastion for travellers searching for cheap beer". The beer (Efes) was cheap, but I very much doubt the other patrons in the bar (three Turks) had travelled much further than the pub toilets for at least five years. They practically had cobwebs growing on them. This is exactly why you shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet (e.g- a significant amount of the wikipedia pages about post-1999 ...

... a very delicious honey-soaked cake with crushed nuts and a flaky top. Needless to say, that is what I had for breakfast this morning. It is a nice change of pace to be able to sip wine for hours and discuss religion, politics, social issues, and cultural differences with someone from a very different set of customs and beliefs. I hope that many of our friends are learning as much about our customs as ...

... they would put a log into to push it back. Konya is the center of the Dervish sect of Sufism. We visited the mausoleum of Rumi, the famous philosopher-poet who also founded the Whirling Dervishes. Incredibly beautiful and peaceful place. It reminded me somewhat of the Sikh's Golden Temple, because soft music played continually and everyone was hushed and respectful. No picture taking inside, which is a shame because I never did find any good postcards ...

... Times a few weeks ago (http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/t ravel/11surfacing.html) hasn't yet affected their local popularity, but it got us here. (yesterday, I think I gave sole credit to Kim for leading us to this bar and music... Marilyn and Cameron also sent the article, as did a couple other Times regulars who knew we were coming here.) The band is amazing, and after a few songs, the place was ...

... was already down the block at this point - sometimes the best goodbyes is never saying goodbye. The Turkish bath was weird at first, none of us besides Okran, the Turk, knew what to expect, he was our guide the whole trip - Okran works for an audit commission in the government of his country and wanted to get away from the corporate jargon while on business in Istanbul and wanted to meet friends and site see instead, very respectable feat. The women had their own Turkish ...

... McDonalds, Dominos, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and more...I wonder. What brings meaning to my life are the small encounters. The conversations with people. The random acts of kindness. When I was in Madrid in high school my cousin would create an itinerary for me to follow each day. One day I'd visit this museum, the next day I'd go to the Plaza Mayor. Each day as I left the apartment a little girl about six years old would tug on my sleeve begging for money. She appeared to be all ...