Having finished early today and with most places closed for the holidays the last stop I planned on making was to a Turkish bath next to my hotel. I'd checked prices yesterday and they were better at 18 TL ($9) compared to 80 Euros for the tourist bath houseI'd been to the Cermberlitas bath house my last two trips for $40 but now wanted to try an authentic back street one I was too scared to last time.I left my camera and wallet in the hotel for security and I do...

Next I wanted to visit miniaturk a miniature village of historic sites from Istanbul and around Turkey. I had wanted to come in 2007 but ended up losing a day with stomach problems and a broken camera.Since most places appeared to be closed for the three day holiday I asked the hotel to call first to check if it was open before I went all the way on the bus. They said yes until 6pm as normalI remember last time buses did not take cash fare and the same problem to...

This morning I was going to visit some of Istanbul's Christian heritage. They city is well known for its mosques but there is a Byzantine Christian heritage that predates it. Since I'd been visiting Mosques across the Balkans visiting churches in Istanbul will bring balance of how the two faiths have lived togetherI had planned on visiting in 2007 but I wasted a day going back and forth to a camera shop trying to fix my camera when he kept telling me to come back...

Back in my hotel I'd fallen asleep for about two hours as I'd been up early the last two days. It was now after 3pm and I wanted to go out and do something even though most places are shut. I didn't come all the way to Istanbul after so many years just to sit in my hotel on a holidayI wanted to eat but instead of donars for 2TL outside my hotel I remember seeing fish donars on a travel show so wanted to try that. I also wanted to find out the boat times and price...

At Aksaray Metro I decided to take the train back to the bus station as we arrived at the wrong side yesterday and I wanted to see all the destination signs back to the places in the Balkans I had just visited.Metro fare was 3TL ($1.50) and it was a few stops to the Otogar bus terminal metro station. I remember in 2007 seeing signs for Kosovo and Bulgaria so wanted to find them again.They had Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, and Serbia. There is even a bus no...