cistern...a few more amazing shots

okay maybe a little sarcasm there...but what the hey...

here we are at the cistern feeling very touristy...

family photo

this stuff cracks me up...

prince haakon

love this byron's harem thing :)

here are a few of the lovely ladies...

istanbul over and out...

our last morning in istanbul was slow and the touristy itinerary for the day was sparse (a travel day).  we did take time to visit the ayasofya (aka hagia sophia)...

 this marks the spot in the ayasofia where emperors were coronated...a no step zone so we went for the one foot sneak...

 these feet are planted where the emperors throne sat...

 a little rest for the j-ps...i love this pic...

 one last shot of the blue mosque and we are on our way...

 limon popsicles have been an almost daily occurrence in istanbul...you may have noticed that the jp family photos have been candids...the haakster is not a poser...

 ahhh he caught me...this is a favorite of my haaky pics...true haakon!

a shuttle ride to the airport and a flight to kayseri lead to the next great adventure...

kir

medusa, sultans, harems, lamps and more turkish tea...

we began out second morning in the basilica cistern...was a great stop...it is the oldest of hundreds of cisterns beneath the city of istanbul...was a cool spot on a very warm summer day...there will be more photos of our trip to the cistern coming your way in the next day or two...

after a fantastic lunch jocelyn and i set out for the topkapi palace while byron and the kids went to check out the  rahmi w. koç museum...the topkapi palace was once the residence of ruling sultans...

okay i need to make a comment about the variety in women's attire in turkey...head covering has been very common...but in istanbul the number of women wearing full covering, while not most, are common in most views in the city today...the thing that amazes me is that it is HOT and these women are wearing two layers of clothing including full head gear....

 joce sneaks a few pics....oops....say cheese?

 this woman is working as discreetly as she can to cool herself at the fountain...i have to tell you that underneath she is wearing skinny jeans and a pair of black converse tennies....

the museum has room after room of clothing, jewels and relics...a short stop on the terrace to cool off a little...

after our visit to the main exhibit we invested in the harem tour...we mark our spot in the harem courtyard...

there is tile everywhere...who is this goof?

 this is the prince's quarters...

 view from the harem counrtyard...

after a few hours we met up with byron and the kids at starbucks (cool yummy drinks and treats) and then hit the streets for a little more shopping...joce and byron have been lamp shopping...

tea time again...the shop keeper of the lamp store serves tea during the transaction...i am sitting out on the sidewalk...i love this place....

 after money was exchanged we were invited to visit the workshop where the lamps were being made...it really was very cool...

 a little more shopping in the grand bazaar (some great buys) and then a little people watching and dinner (street food) in front of the blue mosque...i love watching these people!

 

thanks to byron and abla joce for a fantastic trip...i am so grateful...truly :)

kir

istanbul not constantinople...

tuesday was travel day...a bus..a plane...an airport shuttle and we arrived in istanbul at our new home for a couple of nights....a small hotel only steps from the blue mosque and hagia sophia.  it was not long before we hit the streets...a trip to the blue mosque was the first stop...head covering required and for jocelyn a blue wrap (she was wearing shorts)...

 it was my first visit to a mosque...it was very interesting...am feeling challenged to read more about the muslim faith...feel like i just don't know enough...

 this is the hagia sophia...we will go inside on thursday...

 one of my favorite things about turkey it turkish tea...people are drinking this stuff ALL THE TIME...we are drinking it at breakfast...after noon and evening meals...venders and store employees are serving it...in kusadasi i found myself in the back room of a shop haggling over the price of lanterns and drinking the stuff...this glass of tea was the chaser for the evening meal our first night in istanbul...

 after dinner we passed the blue mosque on the way back to the hotel...

 really quite a site...

so much more to come on wednesday...
kir

for gin: it was so good to hear your voice...took the edge off of the "gin sick"...i do...

flippers and freckles....

t'was an amazing water park day. we got to the park and hit the slides. 

this kind of day is definitely something the kids love and the adults do because they love the kids in their lives...that being said the adults in allegra and haakon's world jumped right in...this is my favorite grown-up pic of the day...those legs belong to gal pal jocelyn...(i giggle-just a little-every time i look at this)...

 after a bit of slide time and lunch (we ate waffles with fruit and whipped cream-love water park food) we headed to the dolphin park for our swim.  our guy haakon had cold fins so jocelyn jumped in...

i have to say that this was an outstanding experience...it was truly magical...i am still grinning...

there were two dolphins...maya and allegra...yep i typed allegra...so here we have the two allegras...allegra the dolphin is singing to our allegra...

 miss maya lays one on me...

 after handshakes and kisses we took a little ride...this is me and allegra

 oh happy happy girl...

 miss allegra and maya

 allegra takes joce for a spin around the pool...

after our water time we returned to the landing for our own dolphin show...

 maya and allegra....

after the dolphin swim we returned to the water park for more...a little wave pool time and some ice cream.  the strangest experience of the day was the disco dance party.  the turks love their music.  the dj and his dancers led the enthusiastic crowd in "disco line dances"...it was  just weird.  our (me & joce) only regret is that we did not join them...

 enough of the dance party gawking...and back to the slides....

 i love this pic of haak...ears and nose plugged...

i am with you haakster...doing my own nose plugging...woo hoo!

a full day...little and big girl dreams fulfilled and a few new sun freckles...

tomorrow we fly to istanbul...the turkish adventure continues...

kir

ps for gin: i missed you today...you would have loved the dolphins...next time you and me...date? 

i do (love you that is)...