Sunday -- I really hate to leave Turkey. I returned to Istanbul for one more half day. I loved my small, comfortable hotel room where the wifi worked and my flat screen TV had CNN and the BBC. It also had a very clean bathtub, a luxury I have not had for a while. My other hotel in Turkey had a bathtub but there was no way I would have used it.
Having no tours and always thinking of food, I took a tram -- which turned out to be really easy -- to a popular area on the Bosporus with a bridge, many people fishing and many fish restaurants. Each restaurant has a hawker outside who justs wants to talk to you for a minute. In fact all over one is approached by someone who wants to start a conversation and wants to sell you something.
My last tourist destination was the Grand Baazar. [Ed. Note: See previous post.] I succumbed to a beautiful pair of handmade white gold and gold earrings. The big items in Turkey are carpets, which I purchased and are being shipped, jewelry which I am wearing, and leather which I did not buy. You end up paying half of what they ask. It is off season so maybe I got better deals. One never knows really how well one did. Anyway I am sad to be leaving the land of the Sultans and Mosques. The Ottoman Empire was great which is evident in Istanbul. I hope to return here next year from Florence on my way to Israel. Time will tell if I will be able to.
I am on the plane on my way to Budapest. I am now going to the lands of the churches.
Next post from Hungary.
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