The Day that Gul and Ilter Planned For Us by Zander

My Grandparents have a lot of friends all over the world. Some of them we have visited like Ilter and Gul in Turkey. My grandparents know them because Ilter was my grandpa’s friend from high school. Gul and Ilter met us for dinner. Gul planned for her driver to take us around town and show us some sights that she wanted us to see the next day.  I was really happy, because we wouldn’t have to plan our own day. We were running out of things to see in Istanbul. They are locals so they know what is cool to see, I was pretty happy to not have to plan the day.

Zander next to a steem engine.

My family  and I at dinner with Gul and Ilter.

            The first stop that Gul had planned for us was the museum of technology. At the museum there were lots of boats from different time periods. They had all different sizes. There were little models all the way to a full sized submarine. I liked the submarine the best, but it was sad that we couldn’t go on it. There were also a lot of planes. They had biplanes all the way to a WWII bomber that had been rescued from the bottom of the ocean. They had fighter jets out front too. What I really liked about the museum was the collection of old cars. My favorite car that they had was the Rolls-Royce. It was pretty cool to see all the old airplanes, cars, and boats.   

I'm standing in front of a Cobra Helicopter.

            For the next stop, we went to a museum at Ilter’s University. I was feeling a little museum out and restless, but I was about to change my mind. When we entered the museum, there were lots of big generators that were controlled by a room on the second floor. It was pretty fun to press all the buttons and pull the levers. When we got down from the factory room, we went to the scientific exhibits. There was a room with really good acoustics. There was a table that you could make music with and really cool magnets. When you place the magnets on the table they make a specific sound. So you can make music with those specific sounds. I used the metal washers to make bridges and towers between the two magnets. There were electromagnets and magnets that were really strong. They there was a sign not to wear metal near it or you would be stuck to the magnet. My favorite part was making music with the magnets.

My family and I playing at the control room.

            After we thoroughly exhausted the museums, we went to a mosque where all the serious Muslims come to pray. It was really cool to see all these people pray. I learned that the Muslims have to pray 3 times a day. I thought that it was a little much to ask someone to pray 3 times a day. What I also noticed was that even though this mosque was smaller than the blue mosque, it was much cleaner and looked much brighter. There were lots of paintings, and a really big rug that covered the floor. But that was normal, because to go into the mosque you have to take your shoes off.  There are some rules that we had to follow to go into a mosque: no shoes, no talking while people are praying, and stand back. I think that the rules are pretty reasonable. The only problem was that there are always people praying. It was really a different experience from going to the Hageia Sophia because; the Hageia Sophia is a museum. Now they make you pay to enter and you don’t have to pay to enter a mosque. It was really interesting watching all the people praying at the mosque.  

My family and I at the mosque.

            It was really cool going to the museums and the mosque. I am really glad that Gul planned the trip for us. I was glad, because we wouldn’t have gone to the museum if she hadn’t told us about them.  My favorite place that we went to was the museum of technology, because there were cars that were 80 years old. I also enjoyed going to the Mosque, because I have never been to a mosque that was so quiet with so many people praying. I really enjoyed having Gul plan and have a driver drive us to all the different sights.  If she hadn’t, we wouldn’t have seen all the amazing sites.