I fell in love with Istanbul

I was soo wrong about Turkey esp Istanbul, it was not how i imagined it to be and i fell in love with it! Theres soo much to tell and to show, so much history and culture. I'd recommend Istanbul to anyone.

We were in Istanbul during spring break and it was one of the best hols we've had so far and i can tell you even the girls enjoyed themselves which is super! 9 days in Istanbul is just rite if u have small children...we spent 6 days pretty much sightseeing and getting familiar with the city and the last 2 day of just revisiting and strolling around town. My lonely planet was put to good use :D

The weather could have been better, we got 3 days of sun out of 6....and some rain too. It was really cold some days the lowest was 7 degC and the highest was 14 degC. It was a nice change of weather coming from Doha ( its gettin hot in here! ) and i loved it and bubbles was soo fascinated with the smoke coming out of her mouth when she speaks!!

There was soo much too see, do and eat!. All we did was jalan..makan...jalan lagi..makan lagi. Our friends that came with us said that they have lost some weight from all the walking but we on the other hand came back with kebaps cheeks :@ oh dear. If you are a carpet lover...you have come to the rite place, anywhere you go u see carpets even in the mosques the carpets are beautiful and heated ( how cool! ). I love carpets, unfortunately the want i wanted was way way way expensive ,but ohh soo lovely and you will need some super haggling skills coz its completely overpriced. I brought back a glass ball and im happy.

We were lucky that we get to see the tulips bloomed. It was the annual Tulip festival in Turkey and you can see all sort of types and colors of tulip being planted around the city esp in Gulhane Park and the Sultanhamet area. The 1st day we arrived they were still small and close but after a week...they bloomed and was gorgeous. Apparently tulips originated from Turkey and was then brought to Europe so i was told.

The turks has preserved their antiquities well and its amazing how so much detail and work has been done on each one of them. Im impressed! I was super amazed at the Dolmabahce Palace, everything is in its original piece and still looks pretty new. I remember walking into the palace telling caveman man that i wouldn't mind living here hehehehe...he of course said...no way! it was very luxurious...it has a 4.5 tonnes one of the biggest in the world. It was a bit sad that we could take any photos inside coz it was beautiful. Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque was just magnificent. There is no words to describe it, it was all that you hear from those who has been there...a beautiful piece of work.

Would i go to Istanbul again? hmmm....i would but until i have visited the rest of it, i would love to go to Antolia...Cappadocia...Izmir...Ankara

It was a week well spent! Im a happy camper :D