Rose Istanbul

... I have a hard time learning languages - beside the constant ringing of the ears.
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 ...

... people are so great too. We obviously don't look like we belong there and people will stop us and ask us where we're from. One guy was walking by and asked, I said I was from Vancouver and he turned around while saying he used to live there. He was asking me all these questions. Luckily, he was sidetracked easily when we said we used to live in Chicago. Found a great Happy Hour place. The guy talked us into having a drink. We sat there for a long time talking to him ...

... Lv. They had left there bags under our supervision, and in no time the bus soon arrived and everyone started loading up their luggage. The bus was due to leave at 9pm. In a vain attempt at 8.50pm Shona went for a run in the general direction where they were headed but with no luck and time running out, headed back to the bus. Fortunately they appeared in front of Shona and where running even faster than her as soon as they ...

... is defined. I guess, though love is not the point of most arranged marriages, it can grow in them anyway over time. Faith is not too different, I suppose. In our culture, we couldn't fathom anyone being forced to adopt a particular faith or religion, but it happens all the time. There's not better example of this than Istanbul. It's been the capital of imperial religion. First Constantine made Christianity the religion of the empire and moved his capital ...

... station and it was filled with characters-not sure what they were all doing there but then I am sure they wondered the same thing about us!  The show was amazing.  It was pretty much the same group of people I had seen in September but sitting in a different spot gave me a totally different view.  Wow. Once done, we into taxi's back to the hotel as it was raining again.  What did we do for dinner?  Can't remember!  Had a great day and am looking forward to Sunday.

... Turkish delight with pistachio (so good) and amber jewellery. All the salesmen there seemed to know that we were Australian - when I asked one how he knew; he said he could tell because 'all Australians have freckles'. We did a hop on/hop off tour of Istanbul the next day, and drove around checking out the sights - the Blue Mosque, Sofya and the Underground Cistern. The cistern was cool and creepy, with statues of Medusa inside. The water was filled with pale fish, of various ...

... was a lucrative business, I am a bit skeptical that I actually saw Moses' rod etc. Had it not been raining, we would have seen some fantastic views of the Bosporus and Golden Horn. We decided to go back to the ship since we weren't all that dry and it was a bit chilly. We were going to take the Public train, but they wouldn't take Euros. It stopped raining, so we walked back to the shuttle stop and went back to the ship, giving up seeing the Spice Market ...

... the treasures were the mosaics as well as the sheer majesty of the place itself, both inside and outside.  The same was true for the Blue Mosque, with its elegance. All in all, I stayed in Istanbul about ten days before and after traveling around Turkey.  The Euro2008 football matches were in full swing, with Turkey as a contender, so many eyes were glued to the television screens.  I was staying at the Big Apple Hostel in Sultanahmet, where I met dozens of ...

... We chose the historical and famous Chamberlitas Hammami. Upon entering there is an open room with three levels made all of wood. After choosing from the bath's menu (I signed up for the luxury treatment) I was directed to the first level where my "locker" was located and Michelle went to the women's section. The locker was a small room with a bed where I changed into the traditional pestimal, a thin towel worn around the ...

... years of experience. It was great! About 9 pm we were all getting hungry, so Mehmet went and prepared a light dinner for the 4 of us and we took a break from tour planning (and hotel managing) and sat outside at the little tables, with the fairy lights on in the trees and the music playing from the restaurant up the road, eating our last dinner in Istanbul and chatting to two guys who have made the start of our trip so enjoyable!