So we have now spent 3 nights in Istanbul. Its a city of 20 million, that can be very intimidating for someone coming from a COUNTRY of 30 million! The city is HUGE, its filled with beautiful mosques and old architecture. The city is on the Bophorous, and the spans as far as you can see. Our first 2 nights we stayed on the Sultanhamet side, which is home to the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. We spent the days seeing the sights and eating Kebab, and the nights smoking shisha, drinking beers and a lot of tea! Last night we went on a cruise of the Bophorous we got to see the sunset which was beautiful. We then took a walk up to TaKsim square where we had dinner with some new friends and went to a bar and watch the most hilarious Turkish band sing songs from the late 80s. We are now staying on the other side of Istanbul which is way more lively and not so touristy. Today we decided to go on an adventure and explore the real city. We were happy to see the real side of things! School children love to try and speak to you in english, but seems that the only sentence they know is "what is your name" so that is fun to talk with them! We met up with a couple from the states, they are on a similar trip and they will be heading to India so we plan to meet up with them on that leg of the trip. We are having a great time in Istanbul and are excited to head to Antalya tomorrow to explore a new side of the great country!


More to come....