The title is from a friend who used it to describe Dubai and I think it is quite appropriate. The buildings here are absolutely amazing .Each highrise is a work of art that presents itself as a proud (possibly arrogant) ,distinctly unique masterpiece. They are everywhere not just in a little cluster and are both offices and residences. One of the buildings underconstruction is planning on being the tallest in the world. So far it is 100 stories but they have not finalized the plans. Today I spent time at the Dubai Museum and discovered a bit about the history of [View Full Entry]

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I arrived here @ 2am on the 23rd and it is truly a new world. After the age and stability that Istanbul represents Dubai is a city in motion...outward and upward. The population is growing everyday and the Shiek and administration of the emirate are planning for the future after oil .Tourism is the second largest industry and they are developping it rapidly. There is construction going on everywhere .Offices ,apartments ,hotels ,resorts each more spectacular than those built previously...last month. Today we attended a special Robbie Burns day meal and celebration at a friend of Lesley's. The [View Full Entry]

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Well my last full day I spent walking down a street called the Iskidal Cadesi. It is on the other side of the Bosphorus and I took a tram and then a Funicular to get to Taksim Square the beginning of this walk. (Did I tell you that I have been following the walking tours outlined in the Lonely Planet city guide for Istanbul?)This walk takes about 6 1/2 hours and fortunately it is all down hill! THat area of Istanbul is WAY different from where I stay. It is very European ... quite Italian actually. The buildings are more modern [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday the sun was shining in the morning and I was able to get on the ferry for the 10:30 trip down the Bosphorus . This is a pretty big boat! It is used primarily for this journey. The trip is 32 km long and stops several times on the way to the Black Sea. FORTUNATELY it is a big boat that rides quite well in those areas that are affected by larger waves. ..where it meets the Sea of Marmara on one end and the Black Sea on the other. At one time the only dwellings were the castles, palaces,summer [View Full Entry]

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Today I was fortunate to spend time in a church that was built in the 1100's and decorated in the 1300's. Since then it was coverted into a mosque for a few centuries which means that the mosaics and the frescoes were plastered over for there can be no images in a mosque's decor.Fortunately the building became a museum and the Byzantine Church was able to fund and restore the splender of the mosaics and many of the frescoes. They are truly marvelous. The work is dedicated to Mary and Jesus and portrays standard stories (birth ,miracles ,geneologies,temple stories) but others [View Full Entry]

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Istanbul contınues to delıght.I spent yesterday ın Topkapi .I guess I never realızed how large a complex ıt ıs. At some poınts ıt housed more than 500 people. The prıvate lıvıng quarters (the Haram) was/is truly amazıng.The tiles ,stained glass, gold leaf ,inlayed mother-of-pearl are opulent . Way more so than anything I have seen in England . More Oriental than Europian I guess.I fınd ıt quıte amazıng that the Sultans were really the sons of slaves!The women of the haram were slaves from many parts of the world. T [View Full Entry]

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The flights and the day were realy quite uneventful.Just a long day...however the arrival was a bit of a jolt.!All that careful packing and throwing my jacket into checked baggage at the last minute and lo and behold my case didn't make it here at the same time I did. Thank goodness I had a change of clothes and the essentials in my dy pack. I found my hostel without much trouble and it is a funny little place centrally located and staffed by kind and helpful people . I walked for hours in the neighbourhood and realized that I am [View Full Entry]

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The second bedroom is a mess !All the possibilities are laid out and now I must choose what I will need to cope with 3 very diverse climates .Oh such fun... [View Full Entry]

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