Day 4- Our last full day in Istanbul. This morning we decided to fore go the Turkish coffee at breakfast and instead have our first Starbucks experience in Turkey. Later, I found out it wasn't everybody's first experience, just mine, because Tom and the girls actually went the morning before while I was getting ready for the day. I should have known Tom couldn't resist Starbucks and go a whole day without coffee... :)
After an American brownie and some great coffee at Starbucks we were feeling a bit brave and decided to head towards the Grand Bazaar to pick up some of our final gifts/souvenirs from our trip. On the way we saw this great cemetery with old ruins and decided to have a little fun and take a few photos. Just the thought that some of the stones dated back as far as Roman times was truly surreal for all of us.
So we made it to the Bazaar, haggled on a few items, and had a spot of tea and then decided to stop for a little lunch. This time we took the recommendation of a local Turk who told us to eat at one of the restaurants in the Bazaar. We did and the food was amazing! To top it off our waiter spoke 10 different languages even though he'd never had any sort of formal teaching or had ever traveled outside of Turkey. We were all in awe as we watched him fluently move from one language to another with total ease. I have to say at that moment I was truly humbled and somewhat disappointed at my own broken attempts to speak German and Italian even though I've lived in both countries for over two years.
Belly Dancer Costumes
Lunch restuarant
Spice market again
After the Bazaar we headed back to the Spice Market to pick up some spices and our favorite flavor of Turkish Delight for both the girl's school classes to try. While there we decided to walk along the Bosphorus River that seperates Europe from Asia. We loved all the various boats and city views as we peacefully walked along the river. It was a welcome diversion since Saturday seemed to be the busiest we'd seen the city thus far.
Galata Bridge and the Golden Horn
After an American brownie and some great coffee at Starbucks we were feeling a bit brave and decided to head towards the Grand Bazaar to pick up some of our final gifts/souvenirs from our trip. On the way we saw this great cemetery with old ruins and decided to have a little fun and take a few photos. Just the thought that some of the stones dated back as far as Roman times was truly surreal for all of us.
So we made it to the Bazaar, haggled on a few items, and had a spot of tea and then decided to stop for a little lunch. This time we took the recommendation of a local Turk who told us to eat at one of the restaurants in the Bazaar. We did and the food was amazing! To top it off our waiter spoke 10 different languages even though he'd never had any sort of formal teaching or had ever traveled outside of Turkey. We were all in awe as we watched him fluently move from one language to another with total ease. I have to say at that moment I was truly humbled and somewhat disappointed at my own broken attempts to speak German and Italian even though I've lived in both countries for over two years.
Belly Dancer Costumes
Lunch restuarant 
Spice market again
After the Bazaar we headed back to the Spice Market to pick up some spices and our favorite flavor of Turkish Delight for both the girl's school classes to try. While there we decided to walk along the Bosphorus River that seperates Europe from Asia. We loved all the various boats and city views as we peacefully walked along the river. It was a welcome diversion since Saturday seemed to be the busiest we'd seen the city thus far.
Galata Bridge and the Golden Horn
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