Last Offical day on the Tour :(

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We left Cappadocia at 6:00 am on Saturday morning and I was hoping to see the hot air balloons that fill the sky in the early morning there. If you don’t book early it is hard to get on one as they are almost always full when they go up. Supposedly the views are amazing and one day I would love to do it, but at around 150 Euros is was just not in my budget. I looked up as we got on the bus but since it was very cloudy and sadly there weren’t any balloons out, which is good for the people who have booked them since the views of the landscape and sunrise are not the best, but bad for me since I really wanted to take in the awe of seeing the sky filled with the balloons (and I had missed them the last couple of mornings!). It was a lot of driving as we had about 850 kilometers to cover from Cappadocia to Istanbul, with a stop in Ankara to see Ataturk’s mausoleum. Our driver, Hasan, is a speed demon, which was good for us and him since we of course wanted to get back, but also because he has a family that I am sure he wanted to see.

We made it to Ankara in good time (traveling at speeds of over 150 kph sometimes, wheee!). At the mausoleum we all were unloaded from the bus with our cameras and such in tow ready to see the mausoleum. Upon unloading we walked through a security station where we walked through the scanners and were wanded, and instead of heading on to the mausoleum on foot we got back on the bus! What a pointless thing, we all joked that it was a good thing we left all of our bombs and weapons on the bus. I assume that it was just a check in the box of “yes they went through security” but it was extremely pointless. We walked down the path to Ataturk’s burial place and it is just very awe-inspiring, we were on a schedule so I wasn’t able to really just take it all in but it would have been nice. There were Turkish guards that can’t move until the changing of the guard and at one point we saw an employee adjusting some of the guards items on his clothing so that it was perfect since the wind had knocked them out of place and of course the guard couldn’t fix it himself.

I really do rarely wear flip flops, but it is just a nicer bus ride when you can easily kick off your shoes and get comfy, so for this bus ride I wore them. Well in true blonde Barrett fashion, I tried to break my ankle walking down the mausoleum walkway. The Stones were set about ¾” away from each other on all sides and the filler between them was just grass, so I started down the big walkway and my foot slid off one of the stones, I tripped, and wrecked my foot a little bit (triple points for me!). I tried to be a bit more careful of where I was walking but I wanted to look at the beautiful view and the red and white roses that were planted on each side of the big walkway. Marcus just laughed and shook his head as if to say “that’s my sister!” but I luckily avoided any more accidents as the rest of the Mausoleum was flat (very blonde accessible yippie!)

It was back on the road for all of us after a quick tour and next stop was Istanbul! I had made a mistake when figuring out my plans for flying out of Turkey to Croatia. I thought the 14 day tour ended on Sunday, (since it had started on a Sunday) but as we talked to Mehmet from Fez travel on the Saturday before the tour I found out that I had thought wrong. It was a 14 DAY 13 NIGHTS tour, so it ended on Saturday, not Sunday. Oh well, it gave me an extra day in Istanbul which I was 100% ok with, and even better I had convinced my brother to stay the extra day as well and leave Monday morning, so we had the day in Istanbul to ourselves.

We got back into Istanbul and everyone was staying at the Sultan Hostel which is where the Fez Travel bus picks everyone up and drops everyone off. Even Fatih stays there since he doesn’t have enough time to go home (which is 1.5 hours outside of Sultanhamet Square in Istanbul). Dad had graciously booked us two nights back at the Apricot Hotel where upon arrival (which was very early at a little after 4:00 pm) we were greeted like family! I was so happy to introduce my brother to my second home in Istanbul and everyone enjoyed meeting him as well (your turn Mom! I kept getting asked where you were! . .gum disease . .) We were in a room that was just up the stairs from the main lobby (when Dad and I stayed there it was about a 10 minute walk to our room, (unless Dad would let me take the shortcut then it was 2 minutes I swear!) which don’t get me wrong, was wonderful and we enjoyed the walks and the room thoroughly, but being right upstairs is just so convenient for breakfast!) We set our stuff down in our room, which had a sitting room and a huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub in it (I see bubbles in my future!). Lynn was very generous and let me call Murat from her cell phone, I wanted Marcus to see him and it was perfect timing since we had gotten in with enough time to go see him at the Grand Baazar. We went and got money from the ATM since Marcus still had to finish paying Fatih for the tour, after getting the money we went to go find Fatih and pay him. In finding Fatih we also found the whole group and we all decided to go to the Grand Bazaar together.

We had a nice walk and even though Fatih no longer had any obligation to be our guide he stepped up to the plate and continued to lead us around telling us interesting things about Istanbul. Once at the Bazaar we all broke off and said we would meet back in an hour. Fatih went with Marcus and I to find Murat. The Grand Bazaar is a total maze and I became the tour guide since I knew where I was going, I could hear Marcus talking to Fatih and telling him that I don’t have a very good sense of direction (which I agree with), but to everyone surprise I found Murat’s shop on the first try! I was on fiya! Hugs went all around and I was happy to see Murat one last time before I left, and I know he was thrilled to see a grown Marcus! Fatih and Murat chatted a little bit in Turkish (when they wanted to talk about us no doubt) but mostly stuck to English as both of them speak it very well. We all chatted for a while, but then the Bazaar was closing and Marcus wanted to get Michelle something, so we said our goodbyes and Murat’s son led us to a good jeweler friend where we found a very nice piece for her, I hope she likes it!

Fatih then met up with one of his friends, Lavant, who also works for Fez travel and speaks very good English as well. The whole tour managed to meet together at the right time and we all did a casual dinner together of Pide et Donor. It was funny to see the waiter try to talk to us when he didn’t realize we had 2 Turks with us, but as soon as Fatih spoke up everything changed, we got discounts and excellent service (not that the service was bad before, but it just went much more smoothly with Fatih and Leo speaking Turkish to everyone in the restaurant). We then finished up and headed back to the Sultan Hostel for Efes beers, Narglie, and Tavlah – we are such a Turkish group now! The boys played backgammon and the girls exchanged pictures, Marcus was playing Fatih and I left to go get my usb so I could get Taylees pictures (she had a very nice camera and all of her shots were great) and when I came back I asked who had won the first game (you play for points, first person to get 5 points wins, you get one point for winning one game, and 2 points for winning the game if your opponent has not managed to get any of their pieces off of the board) and Fatih declares, “I did, . . of course!” it is so funny to hear the conviction in his voice. But it didn’t last long as Marcus won the next game, I think Fatih won overall, but you shouldn’t be so cocky Fatih! We then all went to see the Saint Sofia and Blue Mosque lit up at night, and it is quite the sight to see. Only one more night after this one in Istanbul, it is going to be so hard to say goodbye!

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Photos

The Mausoleum
That walk way is a death trap!

Beautiful roses on the walkway
the other side were all red

The board is on fire!
Nah its just the Nargile smoke