Emine Sultan Hotel Istanbul

... .  (starting at 5 AM in the morning as we discover)   We check into the charming old wooden guest house, the Emine Sultan and are greeted by the warm and friendly staff.  Since the room is not ready yet, we drop our bags and take ...

... taking advantage of the nice weather.  Our hotel for the next 2 nights is the Tashkonak, which is only a block away from the Emine Sultan where we had stayed previously.  We are given a large room with 2 twin beds and a queen size bed, which ...

... breakfast on the terrace we get an early start. So far, we have seen the major highlights that we wanted to see in Istanbul, except one.  Our goal today, the Topkapi Palace, which was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman ...

... the women we see walking are not wearing a head covering.  We have noticed the same manner of dress in other parts of Istanbul.  Although the country and maybe the city as well is 99% Muslim, one half or less of the women wear a head covering ...

... and a similar menu.  We didn't go in, thinking that it would be too weird eating carne asada or enchiladas in Istanbul.  Actually, I guess that it no crazier than eating Chinese food in San Diego, but we decided to pass, opting to stay with ...