Blogs from Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, Middle East - page 7

Nothing can prepare you for the Grand Bazaar!!! A maze of streets covered by beautiful painted domes with thousands of booths selling fine jewelery, colorful ceramics, woven carpets, Kilimn rugs, antique, textiles, brass and copper, and handcraft items and souvenirs. The first thing to catch my eye was a silk woven pillow cover with dachshund looking dogs ! There was only one person in that market who would die for that particular pillow cover and somehow the seller knew at a glance it was me. Nakadar.....how much I asked.? He smiled and said very fine choice.... Silk .... Excellent quality......250 Turkish Lira. Approximately 125.00 American dollars. No. No no. We said ( Shannon had come to the rescue) we started to walk away ( they were pulling me).....I needed that pillow! Ok. 175TL. He offered ...I ... read more

Istanbul... read more

Istanbul, a doua oara. Cu o populatie de peste 13 milioane, e greu sa te strecori ca sa ii afli misterele, dar nu imposibil. Constantinopol este singurul oras situat pe doua continente care te invita sa te plimbi printre minarete, palate, muzee, bazare, stradute inguste. Fiind capitala a doua imperii total diferite de peste 2000 de ani, aici exista multe situri istorice, pe care am incercat sa le mai descoperim si noi. Printre ele amintim si de Insulele Printese. Mai trebuie evidentiat aici ca in aceasta perioada am prins si o lunga sarbatoare la ei - Sarbatoarea Sacrificiului. Am fost cazati la Hotel Seres din districtul Sultanahmet, de data asta in plin centru istoric, chiar langa Muzeul de Arheologie. Hotelul beneficia de o priveliste panoramica acoperita la etajul 7 unde se servea micul dejun, cam plin ... read more

Well - we are finally sort of starting to catch-up to current status (only 15 months behind). Gonna be very honest here - we knew where Turkey was, but besides that all we knew was that it was a fairly heavily populated Muslim country with lots of history and a country that played a massive part in world history. Besides this we really knew nothing of the country, but then again just the fact that we knew where Turkey was probably put us ahead half of the world on knowledge of Turkey. Once again we were in one of those situations. We had vacation booked, we knew we wanted to go somewhere outside the U.S, but there was also that nagging fact that I need a visa to now visit most countries (since I hold a ... read more

Mon 8th July to Sat 13th July 2013 Istanbul, Turkey Mon 8th July I have been wanting to put some more weight back on for the past 2 weeks. I have lost a weight and my waist size has dropped from 32" to 30". The trousers I have worn from the UK have been a bit loose and always trying to slip down on me. In Istanbul, there is a perfect solution to weight loss, the local people here eat many forms of pastry for breakfast. The pastry is full of flour and fat and it is perfect for someone who needs to put on some weight. After breakfasting heavily on this pastry stuff, I am happy to report that I have re-gained my 32" waist back. The afternoon was spent driving into town looking for ... read more