"We don't want to go!"

Flight to Istanbul.
Fun to be back and seeing places that we walked 2 weeks ago.

THE GRAND BAZAAR!
Was this ever fun.
I think the bank manager is looking for me as we speak!

Farewell Dinner.
9th floor
View over Istanbul.
Absolutely breathtaking.
Will add photos.
Probably add more and write on the plane.
Hope to get WiFi at Singapore so you can read it before we land

Xxxxx

Up at 6am for a 7.45am at the bus.

We had a wonderful breakfast on the Terrace across the bridge.
I think I still have lots of photos to add here.

We really didn't want to leave.
Kept wandering around.
Looking back.
Taking more photos.

This is an absolutely magical place.

Walked up the very steep cobble stone road to the village square and the bus.

Waved goodbye to the beautiful hotel.

Onto the airport, about an hour's drive.
Arrived about 9am.

Hey, absolutely wonderful thing about Turkish Airports.
You do not get in those sliding front doors 2 feet before you are lined up for baggage x-rays.
All cases
All hand luggage
All visitors.
That's absolutely everyone x-rayed and scanned before they can enter the main section of the airport.
I really liked that.
Should happen everywhere.

1 and a half hour flight to Istanbul.
Then picked up by a new bus.
( Said goodbye to the lovely Ilban at the airport earlier.)

Nice trip through Istanbul to our hotel
We arrived in Istanbul 16 days ago at night so couldn't take much in.
I was fascinated that Constantinople was a 'walled' city.
And so much of the walls remain.
The Sea of Marmara or the Bosphorous Sea ( not sure which)
used to lap at these walls.

Back at the Dossi Dossi hotel at 3pm.
Room 212 this time.
We had a room on the 4th floor last time.
40 minutes for check in and back to the lobby for the 15 minute walk to The Grand Bazaar.

What an amazing place.
And so many people.
You could barely move.
I think there are over 4000 shops.

Fulya had given us directions to the antique and silver section of the Bazaar.
So off we went, third turn to the right and we were in amongst it.

I found a lovely shop.
A very lovely shop.
Ended up buying 2 pendants and 2 bracelets in this tiny shop that would have been lucky to be 6 feet square.
I did all the buying and he gave Emily a lovely silk scarf, mainly because it looked great on her and I couldn't find one I liked!
He was very pleased to see us.
Bought 2 pendants there and I think he was pretty pleased about that.
He was more pleased when I backtracked to his shop again about 30 minutes later to get a bracelet I'd seen.... and then another one.

Better than HARRODS.
Much better than HARRODS.
Seriously.

We stepped outside for a short breather and a coke.
Easier said than done.... You can get lost in there very easily.

Then back into it.
Emily had fun.
Bought some presents and a ring for herself.
I bought another bracelet and another pendant.
( We really had to get out of there!)

Had an absolute blast.
So much fun.
The shop keepers were wonderful.
We had so many laughs.

So much wiser than our first day in Istanbul.
( Were in the back room showrooms drinking a Turkish tea before we had blinked that first day.)
So funny.
And those people were wonderful.
Nothing sleazy at all.
And so skilled at chatting.
And were quiet happy with a 'No' so long as you said it 10 times.
They had to be sure.
Beautiful showrooms too.

And they had a great opening line with Emily because they all asked about her tattoos.
We were stopped in the street, that's main streets of Istanbul ( and every other place now I think about it ) and she was asked about her tattoos.

So The Grand Bazaar was wonderful.

Then quick walk back at 6pm
Hasty clean up then the short walk through Istanbul old quarter to get to our restaurant for our Farewell Dinner.
People were dining outdoors everywhere.
Our restaurant , up 9 floors...
And the view just took your breath away.

We looked directly out at the Blue Mosque and the Bosphorous Sea with all the ships moored there at sunset!
It was stunning.

Said goodbye to most, a few we will see again as we check out.

Up to our room.
Very tired.
Needing showers.
To finish packing

And promptly pulled the wardrobe door off it's runner so we could not get to the safe.
They were very heavy doors.

So call to reception for a handyman.
He came up with a young lad as translator, who talked tattoos with Emily.
( He wants one but is scared of pain.)
Took a bit, but they fixed it and we got our passports etc out of the safe.

Into bed, pretty worn out.

Then ...
Oh.
Oh.
Our room!
A king size bed and 2 singles... Divided like 2 rooms.

So I leapt out of my bed and into the King bed with Emily to talk about all we'd done.
Had fun and lots of laughs.

Bed