Day 7, June 10, 2011

The trip from Oklahoma airport to London then onto Istanbul was tiring. We lost a sense of time and day. It was interesting to say the least the airport in London is huge. Coming in and looking outside of the plane you could immediately see the difference in England and the states. The homes the layout of the land is so different. We did manage to get a short bus ride in England to the International terminal, driving on the other side of the road was quite interesting. I know now why Harry Potter was in a British environment and not Levitttown on Long Island.

Istanbul is AMAZING, even though I have only been here 8 hours or so. The hotel was an old house of a weathy Ottomon family. The rooms are wood with Turkish carpets and such. We went out last night to walk around. Things here do not get started until 8 or 9 pm at night. Dinner was nice, found some good vegetarian food. I was amazed at the muezzin's singing prayer blasted from speakers on top of the minerets. There are minerets everywhere here, like churches in the US. The people for the most part dress quite casually, some women wear headscarfs. I think that this city is quite relaxed in terms of moslem garb. It is quite modern, not in the New York city sense. The buildings and streets definitely go way back, very narrow, brick (this is an old part of the city). The shops are small and filled with all kinds of brightly color stuff. The shopkeepers are trying to pull you into their stores at every turn.








My Ticket from Dallas to London


Airport arrival in Istanbul

The roof of my room in Istanbul, Turkuaz

This is not the hotel lobby of the Holiday Inn

Sultan Kurtz, No maybe a Pasha, no just a tourist

Near the hotel at the Hippodrom area, The Blue Mosque











Getting Ice Cream has its moments in Istanbul, not your regular ice cream stand

Muezzin heard in the background from Minnert loudspeakers





Steet scene in Istanbul

Buying Ice Cream in Istanbul has its moments, not what you are used to