Turkey

hi everyone. We finally arrived in Istanbul after what was a very long day. About a four hour stopover in Singapore and a re fuel, of the plane that is in Dubai we landed in this very busy city around 8.00am. Us and 16 million other Istanbulians. And it seemed as all of them were out and about. We did discover that after Ramadan when they fast they have three days of celebrations and boy do they celebrate.

Weather was nice and we walked and walked and walked visiting lots of fantastic places such as Hagia Sofia which used to be a Mosque but is now more of a museum, Topaki Place which was used by the Sultans in times gone by, a few places where the tombs of the different sultans are stored just to name a few. We had coffee, one can get a decent cappucino here which was great for Dale. I also tried an apple tea which was delicious.

A carpet sales person tried to sell Dale and Felicity a turkish carpet but they remembered the rules and didn't buy.

We have now let Istanbul and are on tour, travelling around parts of Turkey. However it was very scary on the first day as it was pouring with rain and we discovered that the brakes on the bus did not work very well.Imagine the look on Dales face, priceless. She held on to me very tightly and tried to relax as we hurtled down the hills at a rather fast pace.

Luckily we changed buses at Gallipoli and now feel much safer.

Gallipoli very fascinating as we visited the sites of the battles which were held here in World War One. Perhaps you could talk to your parents about this war. No knights in shining armour here. Yesterday we visited Troy and walked around the ruins of the City. There is a replica of the Trojan horse here as well. Perhaps Chrissy, Leanne or Karen could show you some photos on the Web. Must go now as breakfast calls. Lots of love Adventure Bear and DaleXXX