Today we disembarked in this crazy busy city called Istanbul. We stepped out of the wharf to mad traffic, noise etc, none of us had any Turkish lire on us so we had to get some out at an ATM. We passed a shop with guns in it which entertained the boys, then a turkish lady just started yelling at this Turkish man out on the street we think it was about where she had parked her car people came out onto balconies she was so loud. Any way eventually we got on a on off bus which seemed t o have a different format than others we have taken. Got off at the blue Mosque which was a little underwhelming. Danos teed up with a guy to get us inside quickly as there were big queues. Legs and arms had to be covered so they give you things to put around yourself. Anyway the guy who got us in had a condition that we had to go to his family's carpet shop afterwards- no obligation of course. Anyway he takes us to the shop where we go up 3 flights of stairs where there are 2 others guys. They offer us drinks which they say is part of their culture and means you are friends for 40 years. None of us accept the offered drinks. Then they start a whole presentation on the rugs of where they were made etc, this looks like going on for a very long time so because Danos got us into it he felt he had to stop it. He explained that we weren't in town for very long and couldn't hang around. They were very good about it. After that we hopped on the bus again we passed many men just sitting around having coffee and chatting- in parks, in cafes, on benches. It is definitely a mans world but then again where isn't. We got off again at a big square and headed to the Grand Bazaar. On the way there were streets and streets of stalls we held off looking at these until we got to the bazaar but were disappointed it was over priced and not much variety. Danos did manage to purchase a "Rolex" for $100 euros???? Anyway on the way out we started looking and made some good purchases on our way back to the boat. We had an effe (beer) in a little bar. Very nice, back on the boat for 2 for 1 drinks in Henry's Pub (for a change). From Henry's we watched all the water traffic. Boats are going everywhere the water is as busy as the roads. The city is home to between 17 and 20 million people. Turkey is a country separated by the Dardenelles. One side is Asia one side is Europe. There is approx 8 to
10 million on either side. All the chickens made it back to the boat but some were running very late and the 2 that went missing in Rome have never returned.