This trip I’m bouncing around a bit – starting in Greece and then heading to northern and eastern Europe to see some new places before ending in Istanbul.
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Last stop: Istanbul
Being a poser at Gulseren’s shop in the Grand Bazaar
I love Istanbul and I’d planned to have a couple of days of R&R and shopping to round out the holiday. It turned out that the bazaars (and costumiers!) were closed for most of the time we were there due to the Eid holidays. Happily there were still some shops open, and the rest all opened on Thursday so I had a window of opportunity.
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Back to Istanbul
J and moi shopping hard at the Grand Bazaar
After wending our way around the countryside, we flew back to Istanbul (after a few of the girls did a quick trip to the post office to make sure their bags weighed the regulation 20kg!)
A huge stack of simit on the tram! J was *trying* not to be tempted, but they smelled so good!
Our last few days were just as frenetic as the previous ones, although we did manage to fit in the occasional hammam and massage. Continue reading
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Istanbul
I haven’t posted for a few days as I’ve been so incredibly busy! The flight to Istanbul was pretty uneventful, apart from me being told off by Customs people in Dublin Airport because I took a picture of the Customs dog. Whoops.
Turkish Air business class is nice – they have an unidentified “champagne” which does all the right things, and they give a bowl of hazelnuts and dried fruit with their drinks. The meal was great too – some lovely appetisers and then a lamb and eggplant dish, just right to get in the Turkish mood!
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Istanbul again
The otobus from Izmir ended up taking a car ferry part of the way up to Istanbul, so even though we didn’t get a ferry ride all the way, we did get a boat ride!
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Istanbul – Konya
We had a Turkish Bath this morning – wooowwww. First the sauna (I didn’t wear my glasses this time so they haven’t lost their paint like when I was in Jordan!) then scrubbed down with loofah type thing, then washed with a pillowcase filled with soap suds (very relaxing), then massage, then bowls of water thrown over me to rinse off. What an experience!
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Istanbul Day 3
We did sightseeing today – Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque, the the Hippodrome. Gorgeous, but it was raining pretty hard at times and we all got saturated.
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Istanbul Day 2
What a busy day today! We started out by heading to Topkapi Palace first thing, missing a lot of the crowds. The palace is gorgeous – lots of fabulous mosaics and tiling, inlaid wood/mother of pearl panels and carved wood and marble. We visited the harem which was an eye opener – the Queen Mother had some great rooms, but everyone else was pretty much lumped in together. What a life! No privacy, locked in, the only recreation was gossip… painful!
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Istanbul Day 1
We’re in Istanbul! Even the name conjures up exotic images. It’s amazing. It was great to see the girls – there are 10 of us on Angie’s trip and we’re going to have a ball!
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Two Weeks Away 
