Istanbul by Mia

Us with Starbucks under our tower (Galata Tower).

Our flight to Istanbul started off as a disaster, but it got better the second we got on the plane. It was scheduled to leave at around 5:00 am, so we had to get there at 3 am. The second we stumbled in the door at the Delhi airport (after the armed guard at the door checked our passports for like 10 min) the loud speaker told us that our flight had been delayed until 11 am! It was horrible! We slept for a little bit on the seats by the check in counters and got lots of coffee to keep us from dying. When we were in line for checking in, they switched to another desk right before it was our turn and mommy got really mad. All of us kids went and hid behind a pole until she was all done. No one wants to be associated with the psycho lady!!! The airline people were pretty bad though, there was only a few desks open and there were about 5 people just standing around doing nothing because they weren't trained enough to check people in or something. When we finally got checked in, we went though immigration and security before we got to hang out at the gate for a few hours looking at the duty free stuff and sitting around.


At 11 we boarded our plane which was much nicer than any of the ones we had been on recently. It was a lot bigger, (there was two isles and two seats on the out side and 4 or 5 in the middle) and we got one of those free entertainment system things! There were tons of movies and games, and supposedly internet, but I tried it and I don't think it works. It was a 7 hour flight so I got to watch around 3 and a half movies, and drink complimentary soda, and eat the nasty complimentary lunch. Airplane food is so gross! When we landed I was sad because I was halfway through a movie. I guess I'll finish it on the plane to Cairo!!!

Random pic of us at the Basilica Cistern

Before we came here I had absolutely no idea what Turkey was like! I pretty much just thought it had a weird name and really good food. I was really surprised that it was like snowing when we landed because I thought of Turkey as one of those deserty places. But yeah, it was really cold. The airport was nice and warm, though and that was good. We went through immigration and customs, both of which were really lax and the guys behind the desks were texting and stuff. It was nice that they weren't too strict because we wanted dinner and a bed right away! It was a nice change after India where they checked our passports 3 times between the boarding gate and the airplane! We took the metro from the airport to the stop near our apartment and walked up some steep stairs and through a few dark alleys. I was pretty much thinking this was another one of the sketchy apartments when we came out at the top of the stairs and there were cute shops and barely any graffiti. We ate dinner at a restaurant near the Galata Tower and had some really yummy ravioli. Then we met the landlord of the apartment mommy found and he showed us the apartment.

Our apartment is really nice! There are views of the tower, though you have to look over a trash heap that is usually covered in snow so it is not that bad. There are 3 bedrooms, a nice living room, dining room and little kitchen the tea and coffee cupboard stocked up. The only downside is that it is on the 3rd floor so we have had neighbors come up and yell at us for stomping around. Zander and daddy walk really loudly! I'm just really glad that we all have beds for a change!

The area we live in is really perfect. There are all sorts of shops and restaurants around, and the metro is really close too. Just up the street is Taksim Square, which is a long street with tons of shops and restaurants that ends at a big square with a few hotels and gazillions of pigeons. It's the kind of place that I want to definitely come back to when I have money to spend!!! Today we walked up that street and stopped in a pastry shop and ate lots of cake. It was sooo good! I had half of a chocolate banana cake and half of a rasberry cheesecake. We also went to see a really cool Catholic Church that looked a lot like the Haghia Sophia but a lot smaller and newer. There were tons of paintings of saints everywhere, and angels painted in the four corners of the ceiling like the Haghia Sophia. It was really cool but we only got to look around for a few minutes because it was actually closed so they guy only let us in for a little while. Istanbul is a really neat city because of the mix of old and new and the narrow cobbled side streets. It all seems very... European!