Splendid Palace Hotel Buyukada

... really great - a hilton - the concierge gave me a card with supposedly the names of the places i wanted to go to in turkish and then how to get back to the hotel - unfortunately all 3 cab drivers somehow did now seem to know how to get to the places i wanted, despite their being some of the most famous places in the city - i am not really sure how much i paid the different drivers but the concierge when i returned said that i was not really taken advantage of ...

... Mohamed's standard bearers who was killed in a siege.  It is a popular and busy pilgrimage site for Muslim's, its streets lined with stalls and shops selling everything Islamic.   It reminded me a lot of Fatima in Portugal. I couldn't help but think of how important the location of this mosque was to the economic well being of this neighborhood.  We next followed the signs for Pierre Loti  through the town which took us up and up ...

... the refrigerator and pulled out a battered small platic guide with ridiculous figures on it...you know the place where we had that nice lentil soup?  That was after we hit the spice market.   A truly wonderful, authentic and very tasty place where we jiggled shoulders with Saturday afternoon shoppers and had some form of halva (there are at least 500)  -- head and shoulders above the  Grand ...

... all. But, at the same time, they add to the character (maybe not the charm) of the city. Despite these nuisances, Istanbul is a fascinating city. Perched on the edge of Europe it has much of the character of the Near East. The streets are small and winding with charming restaurants and boutiques everywhere. If you've never been to Istanbul, I highly recommend it. After I got back to the hotel, I went to the gym. I ...

well, dear reader, my time here in istanbul is winding down and i am very sad to see it go. ive experienced things here that i could have never imagined. for example, eating lamb liver... seriously i did without knowing it. anyway, thats not the point. ive said this before but i feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to come here, take classes, and be enveloped in to the culture head on. i wish for you all to be given the chance to come here - its really out of ...

... chill night I dont remember what we did during the day on sunday but it couldn't have been anything exciting. At night we all watched the final Euro2008 futbol game.... Spain vs Germany.... it was sweeeeeet spain won! good going guys.... my mom is getting me either a Torres or Silva jersey when she gets to spain this week. woo! monday was chill.... I didnt have class and we all just ended up ...

... he left me off at the Rabbinate so that I could show them my passport and give them the note from the hotel where I am staying to prove I am a guest here, they sent me to the central synagogue, Neve Calom. I gingerly walk up to the door at said temple and buzz. A minute later a voice in very broken English wafts through the system to ask if I had a reservation. When I respond in the negative, I am hung up on. I don't understand so I buzz again, and ...

TURKEY - one foot in Europe, one foot in Asia - too many different civilizations to keep track of. Not as cheap as expected (not like, say, Thailand). Fiercely patriotic (just like Thailand). Food was good, but nothing to write home about. Splashing out on the nicer restaurants seemed to net me about the same as the recommended cheaper places. Annoying - everyone wants to sell you something all the time. Amazing history and ...

... come from all over Nepal and India to worship here and hang Buddhist prayer flags - millions of them. This side of the mountain was very different to the other side, in a rain shadow, it was an alpine desert. So beautiful in its barrenness, surrounded by snow capped mountains. After a few hours we hit Kagbeni, a little oasis of green fields and apple trees in the junction of two rivers. The larger of which we continued down, into the wind and out of the hills ...

... located near south-west of Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia). This huge cistern, which was founded by Justinianus I, a Byzantine Empire (527-565), began to be called by the public 'the Sinking Palace' - and not without a reason, seeing the great number of marble columns arising out of the water." (www.yerebetan.com). And if you are used to eat an "Prague´s" kind of gyros, you´ll be definitely amazed by the right one from Turkey street´s restaurants.