Turkey Adventure - City Life

Istanbul

What a great city this is! We spent 4 days exploring this little gem (more like MASSIVE), checking out temples, mosques and bazaars. People everywhere spotted Grant and guessed where he came from (calling out "Hey Aussie! Goo-Day Mate!" amongst other things).

Highlights included the Grand Bazaar, where we were invited to drink tea and buy their carpets. We picked up some pashminas, jewellery and clothes. Very cheap stuff. I heard a lot of "Can i ask you a question? Can i help you spend your money in my shop?". I was offered 4 bottles of (imitation) perfume for $10 AU. Bargain! But since we're not exactly travelling light i had to decline. Bummer.

At the very old Spice Bazaar we also got to sample the very best of turkish delights!! YUM! we tried some with pistachio nuts, some with walnuts inside covered in coconut shavings, some chocolate ones, some made with honey instead of sugar. Easy to go nuts. EFES beer was also a highlight, as was Apple Tea! Gotta love it.

I went all out and dressed the part when we went to see the Blue Mosque (what an awesome sight), covering arms, legs and my hair, even though they are pretty easy on the female tourists and don't mind if they're showing hair (on their heads that is). We also smoked a massive water pipe (got a bit sick after puffing for a while) which was apple scented and chatted to endless carpet sellers who wanted to ship their product off to chipping norton for us. Happy to report we did not buy any carpets. At all.

Next stop- Gallipoli and Selçuk.