Istanbul

10/10/2010

 
I think I can safely say Turkey is top on our list of favorite countries. The people were wonderful and so gracious and kind with Adele and Vince. All the men needed to touch Vinny's head and tweak his cheek. For his part he was alway game. A huge contributing factor to our success and wonder in the city of Istanbul was our knowledgeable and patient guide Yavuz. We saw more sites in 3 days than we did perhaps in a month in Italy (this may be a slight exaggeration, but not by much). 

This city is so old and so famous throughout history that one could not possibly see all the landmarks in one trip. Just hitting the "who's who" list took 3 days and I'm proud to say the kids held up through most of it. It helped that Yavuz could talk at there level and there were so many beautiful and fascinating things to see: the Blue Mosque, Haghia Sophia, the Hippodrome, Topkapi Palace (where all the Sultans lived), Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, the Basilica Cistern, the Grand and Spice Bazarres. 

The textiles are to die for: rugs and tapestries. This is the first place that I wished I could shop! But alas, we only walked away with a couple of scarves and a gold (fake) c