Royal Istanbul

... one point Turkey had been 102nd out of 164 countries in their treatment of women: equility in the work place, equility in voting, in goverment, in social conditions, in economic conditions. This article states that now Turkey is 159th out of 164 with only Saudi Arabia, Yemin and 3 others (sorry, forget which three) being worse in their treatment of women. Wow. what a slip up. I see ...

... 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.

... the bus.
OK the seats where normal bus seats but with the addition of chocolate cakes, coke, cleansers and really nice staff, it was one of our more pleasant rides of our trip.

We arrived in Istanbul 2 hours early (apparently we didn't have to go through the customs checks), we caught the metro and than had to change to the tram. Which took longer than expected as we took a couple of wrong turns, and tried to ...

... and renamed the city after himself: Constantinople. Then, when that empire was conquered, Islam became the religion of a new empire-the Ottoman empire. Two great monuments to imperial religion sit across from each other in the heart of this city, two magnificent buildings. Justinian built the Church of the Holy Wisdom or Ayasofia (or something close to that depending on what you read) in the sixth century. It is absolutely exquisite, and, though it's huge, it ...

... and sizes, swimming in the dark. I know I was warned against Turkish food, but I had to try a kebab (or kebap as it is called here). It was about $2 and was not the best (*awaits food poisoning*). Not many ingredients. It was just in a dry bread roll rather than a wrap. Melanie got a lamb kebap later on, in a less touristy area, and it was delicious. I only got a bite, but I wanted the whole thing. It was the sort of kebab I'm used to in Sydney - in a wrap, and very tasty. At the ...

... We went to the Bistro on board and had a coffee and a snack since we hadn't had any lunch. Entertainment that evening was a nonstop 70 minute musical tour of 29 different countries complete with slides by a pianist, with the accompaniment of a drummer and bass player. It was well done and he deserved the standing ovation we gave him. Being Turkish, he gave a narration when we cruised through the Dardanelles, which I will highlight when I do tomorrow's sea day.

... from all over Europe and Asia.  On the roof, they served breakfast overlooking the water with a view of the Blue Mosque, where gulls congregated in the lights at night, perhaps for fun. Near the Galata Bridge, fishermen brought their catch to make fresh fish sandwiches for everyone, some cooking the meal from a small boat.  Dolphins also fished, under the bridge.  On many days, I ate a sandwich for lunch.  Just up the trolley street, was a good fasulye ...

... and a pair of slippers. From here I walked down to the first floor and entered the bath through a series of 2 large wooden doors. Here I met my attendant, a large hairy Turkish man with a belly to match. He led me into a circular room with a large heated marble slab in the center that was at least 15 feet in diameter and raised 3 feet off the ground. The room had a large domed ceiling and was very old looking. Stalls ...

Yesterday I channeled Earth Kitt as I crossed the Bosphorus on a ferry. "In Turkey there is a little village..." I was headed to Uskudar on the Asian side so that I could capture some photos. I then grabbed another ferry to Eminonu which is near the Galata bridge. For about a buck you can take the ferry across - your reward for being cheap is fabulous views of Topkapi and Dolmabace palaces, the Galata Tower, several mosques including Sultan ...

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 ...