Luisah, thanks for taking the time to read my report and for your comments. We absolutely loved Istanbul! Every once in awhile I think about our trip or see a photo and it comes back to me what a great time we had.

We were at Anadalou Kavagi approximately 3 hours. We walked to the top where the remains of the fortress were and spent time up there walking around and admiring the view and just being there looking over the Black Sea on one side and the Bosphorus on the other. We took our time walking back and then had a leisurely lunch dockside. Definitely recommended. We had a little time left over to walk around the town area after lunch and then back on to the boat for the return trip. It was a highlight of our trip. If you get to Istanbul it's a must do.

At the Grand Bazaar we found that after we got over our initial discomfort at bargaining, we would start at least 50% less and go from there. We always got items at least 40-35% off. We never bargain here at home, there is no outlet for that, but we actually began to have fun with it. It is tiring though and did begin to wear me out. We found that if you just have fun with it and realize that it is all business and nothing personal it goes smoother for you.

Thanks again for the nice comments.

Reading your report was a pleasure. I'll look for the restaurants that you recommend and defintely do the Bosphorus cruise if the weather is good.

Did you get your visa before leaving Boston? Or on arrival? If on arrival, was there a long line? In Egypt it was a matter of a few minutes on arrival.

Thank you.

I need to proofread better -- definitely ..., not "defintely"

Thanks Luisah. We got our visa on arrival. It was before the customs to the left (if I remember correctly). There may have been one other person ahead of us. So it was the same as Egypt, a matter of a few minutes. When are you going to Istanbul?

Late September, so have plenty of time to research and plan. Thanks for the info on the visa.

What a brilliant so very personal Trip Report. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
I simply loved the perspective on feral cats/dogs and carpet salespersons!!! And my husband sympathises on the "heights".

Thank you ragout for your comments and for taking the time to read the report. I read it again the other day and it brought the whole trip back again. That is one of the reasons I wrote it so that I can get my Istanbul fix when the need strikes.

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