Well, I'll have to admit not knowing much about Turkey... so the first thing I did was look at a map. I was suprised to learn that in addition to Greece and Bulgaria, Turkey boarders Syria, Iraq and Iran - quite the Homeland Security no-go list! It also shares boarders with Armenia and Georgia. Istanbul lies on the Bosphorus - the strait connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmar which drains into the Mediteranian and the official dividing line between Europe and Aisa. We arrived after a ten hour flight from LA to London and then another four hour flight to Istanbul on the ever colorful Turkish Airlines. After realizing the hard-way that few people speak English, we had a passerby at the airport confirm our reservations at the Turkish National Police Guest House (yes, deluxe accomidations await! - and yes, that was sarcasm). We then hired a taxi to drive us the hour across town (with no traffic as it was almost midnight) to the Sayirer neighborhood. After getting lost and turning around, our driver dropped us at the right spot and we managed to check in, again speaking no Turkish and our hosts speaking no English. The rooms are quite alright - tidy and comfortable but with definte signs of wear and tear. It has a certain, well, government feel to it, but at $18 a night, we're not complaining. The location, while a ways from the old city, is right on the Bosphorus with a view of barges passing by and the Fatih Sultan bridge spanning the waterway. The next day, we awoke at 5:20am to the call to prayers from the mosque down the street. It was strangely beautiful and exotic with its melodic tones and the pre-dawn light seeping through the drapes. We drifted back to sleep and awoke a few hours later to have coffee and biscuits before heading out. We strolled along the Bosphorus to the Fortress of Europe - a 13th century castle built before the siege of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmet II. The walls and towers are intact with great views of the waterway below and the Asian side of Istanbul across the way. We continued our walk then took a taxi into the old part of town - the Sultanahmet area. Once in the inner city, we gazed upon the enormous dome and towering minarets of the Blue Mosque and we're astonished by the 1400 year old Aya Sophia (no, that's not a typo - its original foundation was build in the 4th century!). It was originally build as a church by the Byzantines, then was converted to a mosque by the Ottomans. We avoided invites to various rug shops (one guy even guaranteed his carpets could fly!) and grabbed a bite at a little restaurant on a nearby alley. Doner and lamb shish kabobs - excellent! Next, we went underground to the Basilica Cistern - a vaulted water reservoir build in 532 A.D. After we got tired of being dripped on, we headed above ground to a café for some mint tea, Turkish coffee and a puff on a nargile - a water pipe stuffed with strawberry flavored tobacco. Next we ducked into the Grand Bazaar for a peak just before closing and trammed and cabbed it back to our guest house. I slept through the morning call to prayer the next day which was amazing to me since it seemed so loud the morning before. At least I got a full night sleep and am fully recovered from any lingering jet lag. After a breakfast of a Nescafe and sticky buns, Aili and I , her mom, Suzel, and her colleague, Gisela cabbed it to Eminonu station just over the Galata bridge across the Golden Horn into Istanbul. The Eminanu area is a transportation hub linking trams, ferries and roads in the heart of the city. It's also the home of the famous Spice Bazaar. The colors and smells were amazing as we strolled through the arched walkway. I bought 100 grams of "Love Tea" - the merchant insisted it was a cure for any "mother-in-law" problems, and since Suzel is traveling with us, I figure it a good purchase just in case! We continued up the winding alley-ways through a commercial district with shops selling clothes, shoes and fabric which was delightfully devoid of tourists and we weren't hassled a bit!. Eventually, we found ourselves at the back entrance to Istanbul's Grand Bazaar - were we were again left alone since most tourists come in the main gate and never make it this far into the Bazaar (which, after all, has over 1,000 shops). We turned one corner after another, pursuing the colorful glass lamps, exotic nagiles (water pipes), silver, amber, and ceramic jewelry, brass antiques, and beautiful Turkish carpets. We spent some time in a quaint carpet shop where the proprietor had his assistant lay out one amazing rug after another in front of us. He didn't even seem upset when we said thank you ('tesekkur ederim' in Turkish) and walked out without buying one. After finding our way out of the Bazaar, we stopped for a lunch of mixed kabobs and Turkish coffee, then let Suzel go back to the Bazaar by herself while Aili, Gisela and I walked back past the Blue Mosque and dead-ended into the old palace walls which now have strangely out-of-place new homes butting against them. We found the main gate to the palace grounds and meandered through the shady plaza to the National Archeological Museum (after a brief encounter with a crafty rug salesmen befriending tourists and trying to follow him to his 'wholesale' shop). Next we met up with Aili's mom and walked the crowded, windy streets across the bridge and then caught a cab as the rain began to fall. We went for diner just down the street from the police guest house at a café right on the Bosphorus while a soccer game played on the TV above us. Aili and I continued down the street after diner in search of a nightcap and final found a bar with karaoke that served beer. Two choices, Corona or Budweiser! Ugh - I ordered a Corona but they were out! So Bud it is - but how pleasantly surprised was I when I saw Czech Republic on the label - ah, the REAL Budweiser! We hopped to the next restaurant for the Turkish beer, Efes, and a desert (some kind of a doughnut drenched in honey), then headed home to bed.