Viva Mosaic Hotel Istanbul

Today began with my appointment at Ahrida Synagogue in Balat. I didn't want to mention this before because I know that some of my loved ones are a bit nervous about the state of affairs in this part of the world. You know of course that Turkey borders on Iran and Iraq and Armenia, Georgia, and Syria. I had to ask for an appointment to see this Synagogue from 1430 and submit my passport information and say why I wanted to see it and give next of kin etc. They said I ...

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In Nepal, for instance, we passed hundreds of porters doing
backbreaking work to ensure that we would be able to buy snickers or
drink our favorite sodas or beers as we trekked. We complained about
the food, but how much easier would it have been to provide foreigners
with a set menu of Dhal Bat everywhere, rather than trying so hard to
appease them with a menu more diverse than that of 95% of Nepalese
people. The porters and guides ...

... do love traveling, and how silly I was for worrying about being away in the first place. We had an amusing time navigating the tiny cobbled streets of Sultanhamet in the truck, but luckily Adam is a skilled driver and managed to squeeze us through. We unpacked in our lovely hostel – we are blessed a warm bed and showers for three whole nights! I was in a dorm sharing with a load of the boys and a couple of girls. We then set off for the Bazaar to try to ...

... part was a recreated paleolithic house, with an animal head on the wall, fur rugs, and the skeleton of a dead relative in the lounge room! The alternative was to visit the mausoleum of Turkey's god-like founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who took some very successful steps to modernise Turkey (eg. encouraging women to get an education, abolishing the Pope-like Caliphate, recreating the Turkish language in Latin script where words are spelt exactly as they sound, which makes it ...

... was to start around 8ish so we decided to walk there as it didn't seem to far from where we were-wrong.  Luckily it was all downhill to the train station where the performance was being held.  There was some shopping along the way-no surprise there!  The show was absolutely amazing to see!  Trying to get pictures was hard but it was truly brilliant to see. After the show, we took a taxi back to the hotel and then went up to the roof to write some more postcards.

... heads - we did...but remember the whole smile and suit thing he had going on. He was very convincing! We wandered over to a booth that he led us to to see what the price of this shuttle would be. For the both of us it was going to cost 70 Lira. We were now confused about the money exchange as we had originally thought that the exchange rate was like a million Lira to a Candian dollar. Something was not right. We said we would think about it and ...

Well, hello again to all and sundry! Once again, due to a deficit of motivation on my part and a supreme overabundance of procrastinatory tendencies, it has been some time since I managed to update the blog. One could also speculate that this may have been the result of there being little or nothing of interest to tell, but since I've put some of the photos from our foray into Turkey on face book, I don't think that one will hold up under scrutiny either. In true dodgy ...

... checking for something, though I couldn't imagine what her cursory hand check would possibly find. When she finished, we loaded our bags back on the bus and finished the drive to Istanbul. Although I couldn't feel it while on the bus, the temperature was gradually rising as we made our way into Turkey. By the time we reached Istanbul, it had even made it's way into the 50s (and this is after sunset). I was very excited to shed a few ...

... crossing. Julie is already being approached by vendors on the ferry. Her photo must be on every Tukish website for vendors. They can see her coming before she is off the bus. This time it's carpet salesmen. Small carpets. She's saying "No." Then walks away. I'm amazed, but then I see he has a carpet with a marroon and orange design. Hmm, Virgina Tech colors. My daughter and son in law would like that. Yep, the vendor sees me looking. I'm snagged. Ok, I'll take it. Two ...

... They have a big opening on the 8th. I hope to make that one as well! I also plan to visit with Marius in his atelier and watch him work. He studied ceramics but also works with other materials. Perhaps his work would be appropriate for UICA? (Note: I will try anything Jeff!) Maybe I'll find something I'd like for my home. On another note IKEA. Yes, you'll find IKEA everywhere in my cousins' homes. If I had mentioned this in a previous ...