Geo: 41.1075, 28.7079Today was Topkapi Palace day. We had a lazy morning and didn't rush to get out of the room. It had been a pretty late night on Wednesday going to watch the movie and we were all tired. Some combination of more sleep, a more relaxed schedule, the lecture the children heard from me about whining and becoming more accustomed to Istanbul made the beans much more pleasant to be around today. They've been doing well, but there was room for improvement. They all can easily walk 5 or 6 miles each day so there is no reason to whine for the first mile. It just makes it seem longer for all of us.I'm sure the kids will have a lot to report, but I'll try and pick up a few things they may ... read more

Geo: 39.9439, 32.856Alex: I am having a great time in Turkey. As you know, I am in Istanbul. We had a tour guide today. He showed us to a 5-star hotel named the Four Seasons. If you want to know what a 5-star is, some people rate the hotels with stars 1-5. It was really beautiful, but it used to be a prison. I couldn't believe it but I knew the tour guide was right. Then we had lunch. I had a cheddar cheese pide. It was great. After that we walked around some more. Before that we went to the Grand Bazaar. A fact that I learned from mom was, they try to keep the dust down by spraying water on the ground. After all of that, we were exhausted. We went back to the ... read more

Geo: 39.9439, 32.856Kate: Today we went to the Grand Bazaar. There is an indoor and an outdoor part of it. What I noticed was that there are a ton of gold objects, mostly gold jewelry in most of the stores in the inddor bazaar. When we ventured outside, Mom and I checked out a spirograph stand. A spirograph is a series of plastic disks that can be used to create drawings. We weren't able to get one at the stand at the time, but later we got one for 3YTL. For the whole day I noticed that there were an insane amount of stray cats and kittens roaming the streets of Istanbul. I wanted to pat and feed each and every one of them because they were so scrawny, but I couldn't pet them because of ... read more

Geo: 39.9439, 32.856We're staying at the InterIstanbul hotel where things are pretty utilitarian, not like the beautiful, interesting, high-end places that we've been up until now. The room has four beds, a desk and a closet. The view is of someone's laundry. I'm hoping the shower will get fixed today, but we do have a tub. The kids love the elevator which has no safety gate between you and the wall as it moves up and down. Also, there is a rack of postcards in the lobby that feature pictures of scantily-clad babes and ancient, well-endowed male fertility staues. Those are worth some giggles.The location here is very good. We are two blocks from the Grand Bazaar and maybe a quarter mile away from many of the other big major sites like the Blue Mosque.Yesterday we ... read more

Geo: 39.9439, 32.856Today really wasn't much to write home about. We had the long bus ride (see tail end of the entry I counted for yesterday) and then we made our way to the train station. The traveling is starting to wear on us and we're looking forward to staying in Istanbul for a week-- and even more forward to seeing "Dad" and then heading down to our house. We have some interesting experiences everyday though. I learned how to use a locker at the train station (much more difficult than one would think). I'm sure there was something else, but I'm pretty tired.We're on the train now. It's two beds per room and our rooms are right next to each other. It's 10:24 and Alex and Josh are falling apart. I'll be glad to get ... read more