Good bye Istanbul and Turkey

I left my last family on Saturday, November 12th and moved to a hotel to stay with my friend from Juneau, Terri.  We have spent the last few days having a wonderful, laid back time, catching up and comparing travel notes not only for Turkey, but also for Croatia and travel in general. 

We both had ideas of things to do while we were there together, and we did some of them, but we also chose to take it easy.  It was really nice, as there was no pressure to hurry and see sights, schedule activities around transport times, etc., and as the weather was cold, rainy and windy, we enjoyed being inside.

We made it to the cooking class which was very informative.  I think we will be able to make various similar recipes as well as the ones we learned, as we learned how to handle the foods, for example the eggplants and the vine leaves for dolmas.  The Dolmas can be stuffed with many different things, so a recipe for the filling will be easy enough to find, and now we know the technique for making them.  There were four other Americans in the class, which was a perfect size.  Besides the hostess/owner, there was also a chef, a cleaner, and a host to meet any other customers who might have come in. We had a nice conversation during dinner and discovered the owner had a story in the book, "Tales of the Ex-Pat Harem" that I read before I left Alaska!!  For those who have read the book, her story was about managing a hotel in Istanbul and a picture that she hung on the lobby wall that offended one of her employees.

We also had a full spa treatment at the hotel -- turkish bath and massage; headed out shopping at the Grand Bazaar where I had a long conversation with a ceramic dealer which turned into a discussion about religion; shopped at a mall for winter clothes and coat for me; enjoyed a few meals out and even made it to a disco!!!  Crazy!  But we also spent more than half of one day just lounging around the room, feeling happy that we weren't outside in the cold rain and wind.

Off to Moscow today....more stories to come!