Up early for.our last day in Istanbul. Straight to the Blue Mosque which was absolutely jammed last night for prayers on the last night of Ramadan. Brilliant interior - very spiritual. Went to the uninterestingly named Mosaic Museum which turned out to be fantastic - the unearthed mosaic floor of a palace built by the Emperor Constantine establishing the Eastern Roman Empire around 300 AD. Brilliant. Then the Hagia Sophia from similar times but then converted to...

Where do I start? Breakfast on the rooftop terrace as usual- overlooking the Bosphorous Sea. Off to the Spice Bazaar by taxi which told us the actual price for later on. Spice Bazaar was amazing - didn't feel threatened despite the warnings and we wandered everywhere. Great displays everywhere and the smells of spice were amazing! Wandered for hours then caught a taxi back for the afternoon tour on the Bosphorous Zgolden Horn. Taxi ride interesting- first few cha...

First full day in Istanbul. Hit the streets faithfully following Jeannie's instincts (and a map). Found the palace Topkasi nearby. Amazing palace built by the Ottomans. Room for many many concubines (1 is more than enough for me). Amazing mosaics and architecture and they also had a Holy Relics chamber with the Prophet Mohammed's beard, footprint etc. Don't know how they managed it but they also had King Davids sword, Moses' staff and Abraham's saucepan (saw it w...

Leaving Poland - first overcast day after excellent sunshine the whole time. Actually rained last night. Also rained as we dragged our cases the 1 kilometer from terminal 1 (international) to 2(domestic) to catch the regional dehavilland turbo prop to Warsaw then Istanbul turkey.

Last full day in Poland. Bed at one, up before 4am to see dylan and Nathan off to Moscow for five days. Crashed again then spent hours rebooking flights. Caught up with Ricardo and Yvonne at Wawel Hill - multiple castles, cathedrals and other buildings erected over time, now coexisting on the hill overlooking Krakow old town including a large one built by the Nazis during the occupation. Wandered down to the Jewish Quarter (500 metres my arse) where the Ghetto w...