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Published: August 9th 2011
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Day 1 - We left at noon on August 4th and got to Istanbul at 10am on August 5th. We were exhausted from the trip and the fact that we had been up for more than 24 straight hours. Ali took some drugs to knock her out, but I was wide awake watching all the movies Ali would never typically let me watch. Our check in time was 2pm at our hostel, so we walked around the Old Country until we could check in and then finally got to rest.
AM: The plane rocked and rolled so badly that the flight attendants were made to sit down and strap in. My medicine must have worn off by then because I was definitely awake for that fun segment of the trip. The "Old Country" is actually known as the Old City and is the historical part of the city with buildings dating back 2500 years!
Day 2 – We woke up at 3am because we were in a hostel with 6 other French people who came home from the tea tavern all hopped up on caffeine and hookah smoke. After that we couldn’t fall back asleep, so we started our
day. We read and messed around on the internet for a couple hours before we made our way to the nearest Starbucks where Ali got her Café Mocha fix. Then we walked another 45 miles to the Old Country to see a very old castle like area called Achuaeionldkf. We got the cassette tape guide, so I should know more than I ever imagined I would about this Askfjdkieo castle. The really only notable thing I can think of from the place, was that they held the staff that Moses used to part the Red Sea. At least that’s what it said in the display case. I wonder if one day there will be a display case around a stick that says “This is the staff that Will once used to beat his brothers with.”
AM: Yeah, French people don't sleep. We got up early and walked 15 minutes to the Old City to the Topkapi Palace, otherwise known as the Sultans Palace. In the palace, there were the largest emeralds, diamonds, and rubies I have ever seen. One of the diamonds was 86 carats! It was amazing. And not only did it have Moses rod but it was
also home to what are considered to be some of the most sacred relics of the Muslim world: the cloak of the Prophet Muhammad, two swords, a bow, one tooth, a hair of his beard, his battle sabres, the turban of Joseph and a carpet of the daughter of Muhammad.
Day 3 – We got a late start and were out of the hostel at 10am. Today we went to the Eye of Sophia, which is a castle like building where Jesus Christ once lived and from where he ruled the world. Then we took a nap on a bunch of spread out newspapers in the park of the Blue Moss. We had to sleep on newspapers because the carpet store was way too expensive. Apparently, all the carpets here must have magical powers and flying ability because they all cost an arm and a leg. Luckily, some nuns came by and let me use their pillow because if not for them, I would probably still have a crank in my neck. After that, we went to the New Country until we couldn’t walk anymore and then called it an early night.
AM: We went to the Hagia
Sofia which was a church built by the Emperor Justinian back in 537AD and converted to a mosque so pretty sure JC never physically lived there. And the "nuns" were a Muslim family out with there kids playing in the park who were nice enough to notice how uncomfortable Will looked on his newspapers. Apparently Will still has pull with the ladies even over here.
Day 4 – Ali was sick and I had a headache, so we used this day to update our blog. Of course we did find time to walk to Starbucks for Ali to get a $7 Cafe Mocha. We also sat out on the port to watch all the fishing and boating action.
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Rebecca & Terry
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Love the commentary
We love to hear Will's take on things and then have Ali translate!! Keep the posts coming. Miss you.