Hey you dropped something... my heart!

Istanbul is filled with vendors and friendly people who want to "Help you spend your money" as one man said today. My other favorite line that we get is, "Hey you dropped something... [look down]... you dropped my heart." Gag me! The men are very friendly (women are not common in our tourist/historic district). We were told that if we smile the men may think that we love them and that we well take them back to America and marry them. AH! Oh well, we always walk around in a group.

The food is great and very filling! Endless bread baskets of all types followed by huge entres of kebabs and pides (bake pita with cheese and meat), which are amazing! After, we have Turkish tea (today it was apple) in little Tukish tea cups (great size for taking shots). I feel like our schedule consists of sleeping, eating, eating, (well, we walk around the looking at really old buildings in between eating), naping, and eat again.

Today we went to the Dolmabahçe Sarayi, a 285 room palace built ın the 1800s for the Ottoman Sultan and his many wives (and mother), as well as administrative and enormous celebration salons/rooms. Later, when Turkey became a state, the president, Ataturk, lived (and died) there and now it is a museum. I have never seen so much crystal - one chandelier weighed over 4.5 TONS!!! The palace was impressive! I wouldn't mind being the Sultan's mother or wife since the palace had dozens of Turkish baths that were entirely made of marble.

Other than the 5am call to prayer, 30 degree weather and constant drizzle, the airplane mishap, oh, and the lack of hot water or water pressure for showers, we are having a great time, honestly! Good night!

Katie