W Hotel Istanbul

... any TL, I had to go all the way to Izmir internaitonal terminal, going through the security check (anyone entering an airport needs to pass the check) and got TLs to pay for the bus into town. So a lesson learned, money is always the most important thing in a new country. In many cases, credit card or US/EU dollars are not applicable.

I shot a few video clips, so there will be not many pictures for this trip.

... arrıved early in th morning and fortunatly the seats were comfortable enough that there was no need to buy a sleepıng comparment. From what i could tell from the traın statıon Munıch unlıke Parıs ıs alot more Amerıcanısed and therefore *******ized thıs ıs merely a first ımpression and does not neccısarly reflect the truth.

My mad rush across Europe to save tıme and ...

... our way north. The Russians/Ukrainians had towels on all the sun loungers way before breakfast and they stripped off and prostrated themselves before the Sun God all day, pausing briefly for lunch. They are a strange bunch. (As I write this a Russian guy is standing next to me with his arms stretched out facing the sun in just speedos and a massive gold watch, to perfect the all-important tan.)


Spending two days on a boat ...

... for three days. Apparently in the summer it is invaded by young partyers and hippies alike which I can't imagine because it really isn't very big and the accommodations are modest to say the least. Lucky for us we were there in low season and aside from the very first night which we shared with three really cool Spanish folks, we had the valley to ourselves. We spent three days hiking, sunbathing, reading, hanging out in our tree house (no electricity and water only in the outhouse ...

... It was not until 1453 that it was transformed into a mosque. Not only is it beautiful- but its really interesting to see in architecture and art the influence of both Chritianity and Islam. It was not at all clear to me how both survived- why when transferring from one to the other, was the prior history not wiped away? Surprising...... The most interesting mosaic was one of Madonna w/ the Christ child- on one ...

... goes my heart skips a beat in the hope that it will be Heather. It was 4am and it was Heather asking me if I could call her. I was a little worried that something might be wrong but was delighted to discover that she just wanted to say that she misses me and that she cant wait to see me. I don't care what time of the day or night, I will never be disappointed to hear her say things like that. I didn't have any doubts that I was doing the right thing but if I had they would have ...

... of Turkish coffee followed by Turkish tea in the living room as we continued our conversation. The little girl sang for us a funny song about being given a shot in the butt. Every word had to be translated, but not every thing. Some things came through loud and clear although only the 18 year old could speak English. Like hospitality, the joy of a beautiful young girl, breaking ...

... Izmir. Our bus then took us to our boat for the Bosporus river cruise. It is easy to see why the Bosporus is such a strategic waterway. It links the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea. The boat traffic moves only one way at a time in 6 hour shifts to avoid collisions since the waterway is very narrow in places and has strong currents. On our small tourist boat we had no problems. The weather has been gorgeous. It was staggering to me to see how big Istanbul is since I ...

... a spectacular breakfast in the atrium of the hotel, looking out on the boats passing through the Bosporus and the bustle on the Golden Horn. It was really incredible. We then went to the Haiga Sofia and the Top Kapi Palace. It was frigid. Honestly, it was so incredibly cold all day long that with all our jackets, we still weren't warm. The only place that was less cold was the underground cistern made from the poached Roman columns (it was awesome!). The ...

... we saw anywhere else in Turkey! I think Bob liked the armour and weapons the best, I liked the jewels. Some of the diamonds and emeralds were the size of your fist! It looked quite a lot like costume jewelery! We had lunch at the Palace restaurant, mashed eggplant mixed with cheese...it was very good (Bob didn't like it much). We then went to the Grand Bazaar...talk about crowds! We had to walk from the bus because ...