Back from dinner

We got to dinner, at the restaurant which was a mere 30 paces up the street, and they held our table for us. We sat down, and surprise, a newly wed couple on their honeymoon were sitting next to us. Chris and Shannon from Vancouver. What a lovely couple. We ate, drank and enjoyed each other's company till way past midnight. Small world.


Great food, overpriced, still great food and great company.

Time for bed, our guide picks us up tomorrow at 0900. BTW, seems it is telling me this post is happening at 2:44pm when it is actually 12:44 am. Do not know why...

The walk from Europe to Asia (so we thought)

Last night when we arrived, there was a room screw up. So we stayed next door at a sister hotel. They comp'd us for the room and dinner. Dinner was great. This morning after breakfast, we got our room. It is lovely with an outside terrace.







After breakfast we decided to go for a walk. Today is a free day. No guide. We walked up past the archeological museum, down to the water, and across the bridge that connects Europe to Asia. Very cool. The bridge was lined on both sides with fisherman casting the lines.





(archelogical museum)























































On the other side, took an underground (ie in a tunnel) funicular to the top of the hill.






There we walked a long pedestrian street what was almost like a walled street. Behind the facade are churches and embassies. The Ottomans made it a requirement that all churches remain out of sight.









We went in St. Anthony's. On the way out, I of course blessed myself with the holy water. Lisa, you should have as well for insurance of going down under some day!




(looking toward the street from St Anthony's)









(Pope Benedict visited 2006 and gave a statue of Pope John Paul II as a gift)


At the top of the street was a demonstration, peaceful but with loud chanting. Took a few snaps. There was a platoon of polis off to the side. Then I decided it was time to go.



Went back the same way, passed a few Starbucks, and decide to have coffee at Gloria Jeans. Two coffee and a tiny bottle of water - 19TL or 12+ Cdn. Can you spell rip off. Lol.












On the way back down to the water, we walked as we wanted to stop at Galata Tower. Similar to a tower we saw in Zagreb called Thieves' Tower. Very cool, got a panorama of the city and both continents.




































Oh before the water, I had a lemon gelato. Come on Canada and America, figure this out, it is so good. Had it in Croatia, loved it. Had it in Greece, loved it. Had it in France, loved it. Gonna have more of it in Turkey, and I'm going to love it.










While walking back, we crossed the Bosphorous again, this time on the other bridge. Saw a market, went thru it, it was huge, the spice market. Hey Coco, a market just for you.






Thereafter, we walked towards the museum, stopped at an outdoor doner establishment for a doner and Efes (beer). Yummy.

Spent time in the museum, nice, more pots and crypts, and statues. Still interesting nonetheless. From there we stopped at an outdoor cafe across from our hotel. Some of you got an email with photos from there. Had a beer. They gave us apple tea to finish. Came back to the room to freshen up and back to them (my table) (they are holding it for me) (Max and Gino). I love to eat where they know me by name and I have my own table. Only took me a day to get that set up. Lol. The place was called Metropolis.














That's it for now, sorry no pictures. I did not bring a laptop. iPads do not have a file system so I have to copy photos onto the device, upload to dropbox or MobileMe then include them. Too much work, you may have to wait until we return to see images. We'll see...

Cheers.