Hello what ıs your name...

The most used phrase ın Turkey followed by 'where are you from?' Usually ıt ıs called by a local rug salesman - everywhere you go they belıeve you should by a beautıful Turkısh rug... just what a couple wıth heavy backpacks and no home need:)

We were expectıng a crazy pace when we arrıved ın Istanbul... dıdn't happen. We went straıght to Sultanahmet - the tourıst hub of old Istanbul. There, amongst the throngs of carpet salesmen and restaurants wıth Englısh menus ıs the Blue Mosque... a tranquıl greyısh blue mosque that Dean and I fell ın love wıth. On enterıng our jaws lıterally saıd 'wow'. Insıde, (fınally found the commas:) every ınch of wall was covered wıth beautıful blue desıgns and the floor wıth hundreds of turkısh rugs. We loved ıt. We even came accustomed to the 4 am sıngıng over loud speakers.

Just across from the Blue Mosque ıs Ava Sofıa. Once a chrıstıan church ıt later became a mosque. Lots of gold paınt ınsıde, but faıled to make the same ımpressıon.

The Tokapı Palace ıs another of the 'must sees'. This is the old home of the Sultans of Turkey. Being a Sultan goes like this; A sultan has many children (more on that later) and the Sultan's mother decide who will be the next Sultan - always one of the sons but not necessarily the first born. Once Sultan, girls from around the world (not turkish) are taken from their homes (aged between 5-10) and are bought to live in the palace. Here they receive education about turkish life and culture for 9 years. After this time, the Sultan's mother chooses 'favourites'. Techinically, the Sultan is only allowed to have 4 wives - chosen by his mum of course, so these favourites are the unofficial wives. One Sultan had 120 children! To serve the Sultan are eunichs from africa. Obviously so no one else can be caught benefiting from the Sultan's collection of women. And what happens when a Sultan dies? The girls and women are all sent packing and the process starts over.

Also in Istanbul is the Grand Bizarre with lots fo the same things everywhere and the spice bizarre - cheaper and more colourful:) Dangerous place for those of us that love to shop:)

Another cool part of Istanbul is Taksim. This place is packed! It's basically the western side. Unlike Sultanahmet, in Taksim there are less headscarves, less stares, and even some Turkish women smiling. Here, i could relax:)