Ibrahim Pasa Oteli Istanbul

Tibutab ja lennukini on paar tundi aega. Püüan sisse pääseda väiksesse Aya Sofiasse, mis on aga kindlalt luku taga. Koos minuga üritab üle müüri ronida soliidses mantlis punase salliga meesterahvas, kes aga peatselt samuti loobub.<br>Tiir tuulise Marmara mere ääres, kellakolina järgi leian üles Armeenia patriarhaadi kiriku, aga see on varjatud kõrge roosa müüri taha.<br>Vihma küll eriti ei saja, a külm on ikka ja kobin hotelli raamatut lugema.<br><br>Lennujaamas on täielik turkish system.<br>

... to find a laundromat, and they apparently do not exist. Our hostel told us to go down an alley into a shop where ´´a man washes clothes´´. So we gave him our laundry and 20TL, and got back clean (but not folded) clothes today. And they´re kind of starchy, but at least we have something to wear! <br><br>Tomorrow we will explore our neighborhood, and then jet off to Fethiye to go lie on a beach for a while. Hopefully the rain doesn´t follow us!<br><br>

... all there. Little did we know it was a holiday for youth day tomorrow and as a result all Turkish people got free entry to the sights today and tomorrow, not foreigners though. Hence the crowds pouring into all the attractions of the Sultanamet. Despite this the Topkapi palace was immense and the grounds and buildings very interesting with their intricate carved buildings and interiors dating from the 15th century. This was where the sultans lived and ruled till the 19th century ...

... there was a 86-carat diamond in the building it was insane, the size of it was probably the size of my fist. And around the huge diamond there were more beautiful diamonds. Then there were crowns and Mother of Pearl boxes. The objects were amazing and very, very expensive. Afterward we went onto the boat. We toured around and looked at all the beautiful mansions on the ...

... guessed it, Gusta. Soon enough it was brought to my table, along with an Efes glass to drink it from. It cost me 5 lira (£2.06) and I noted, with relief, that Lira coins didn't feature the Efes logo on them (yet). Gusta is a Turkish wheat beer and, being a fan of wheat beer, I thought it was fantastic. Definitely one for fans of Hoegaarden or Grolsch Weiss. I drank it slowly, it'd been weeks since I'd had a wheat beer and I'd missed the taste ...

Well, today was a great and exhaustiýng day. My hotel is at the bottom of a hill and all the major sites are at the top. The day started out pretty well with a trip to Topkapi palace which was huge and amazing. Topkapi palace was home to half of the Sultans of the Ottoman empire. Beautifully decorated in tiles of differing shades of blue and lots of marble. There were a few rooms that we couldn't film in so ...

... my closet back at home (im not kidding). but thankfully i got a good night's sleep last night so i felt refreshed today. today, something odd happened - it rained. and im not talking about a passing shower, i mean a consistent downpour that lasted for a good part of the late morning, early afternoon. while it may have been a nice surprise to see the rain come, it made things difficult in the afternoon because it became muggy and therefore a dilemma arose as to what ...

... Half bottles of Raki then turned up. Very strong alcohol with an aniseed flavour. Between courses, the Whirling Dervishes arrived, four men in black cloaks, with tall Fez caps. The chief proceeds across the floor to a spot-lit shaggy sheepskin, and bows. One by one, the others come forward and bow to the skin, and to each other. They retire to the side, take off their cloaks to reveal white long robes ...

... at some point- I was asked at one point if I had fallen in love with the city as others evidently had- can't say that I did (I'm not sure how you fall in love with a city anyway- every place I've been, even my favorites, still have their faults) but I had a good time, and some pretty good stories that I'm slowly learning to laugh about. Books: Xenocide by Orson Scott Card, the third in a really imaginative and well-written sci-fi series that ...

... with protruding rusty nails. Our cabin, which we shared with a superchick Ukranian who actually turned out to be quite nice despite her terrible English, was the size of a shoe and had sheets so scratchy they should have refinished the deck furniture outside with them! There was also an old Turkish rug that obviously hadn't been washed since before the fall of Communism. And the food- ah, the food. To say it was "edible" would be being too kind ...