Let's Talk Turkey

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Hello from Adrienne in Istanbul, as of right now my favorite city in the world. This designation may change as we continue our travels, but for now, Istanbul is number one.

We are having a wonderful time and we like so many things about this place. It is like being on vacation in a museum. We are in the "old section" of the city, so everywhere you look is a monument of some kind. The streets are made of stones and are very narrow. The people are friendly and the food is fabulous.

Superficial stuff: It's nice that people are dressed normally--cargo pants and T-shirts seem to be the dress code. We love that people get out of your way when we are walking on the sidewalk. And we love that we don't stand out because we wear sensible walking shoes...It's nice to have hot showers and big towels, too.

One thing we don't like is the 5:25 am wakeup call--the first Call To Prayer of the day. When we checked into our hotel we were so excited to have a view of a mosque. However, one of the mosque's minarets with speakers is near our room, so that means we get the morning call loud and clear! Fortunately, we've been able to go back to sleep when it ends.

We have seen so much in our short time here: Hagia Sophia--once a church, then a mosque, and now a museum; Topkapi Palace, which seems to be endless; Basilica Cistern, an underground waterway...Yesterday we took a ferry up the Bosphorous River. We stopped for three hours on the Asian side and had lunch at one of the many seafood restaurants along the shore, and we hiked up a very long, steep hill to see the ruins of the Genoese Castle. (Letty, running those hills has done me some good!)

Today was shopping at the Grand Bazaar. I am not sure if you are aware, but I enjoy shopping a bit. Today was no exception. We were fortunate that it wasn't very crowded. We had heard the bazaar can get quite chaotic but there didn't seem to be too many people there for some reason. We sure didn't mind. The vendors are all very friendly, of course, and some are a bit aggressive, but not obtrusive. We had apple tea with one textile vendor, and mineral water with a ceramic vendor. We also had one of our best meals at a restaurant in the bazaar. Overall, a very fun experience.

Tomorrow is our last full day, and we plan to visit the Spice Bazaar and the Blue Mosque. This part of the trip has been so different but we are enjoying being tourists now.

Hope you all enjoyed your Labor Day holiday. And Happy 41st Anniversary to my parents (Sunday).

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