Yesterday we left our hostel laden with baggage and trekked across Istanbul to get to our hotel we were staying jn for the first part of our tour,I probably over exaggerated with the trekking part but managing 3 bits of luggage in a 30 degree city lets just say I was quite happy to let the hotel staff carry my belongings up to my room.

We are staying in a 4 star hotel which is definitely a step up from the hostel,Ash and Jim are loving it after 5 weeks of traveling tent style,and coming into an airconditioned room at night is amazing,i was having cold showers at the hostel all the time to try and cool me down.

Once we had settled in,it was time to visit the grand bazaar! This place is huge although filled with alot of the same shops and stall over and over again,but lots of sparkly jewelry,carpets,clothes,spices etc surprisingly we didn't get haggled very much,I just looked away or said no thankyou and they generally left you alone. My favourite thing in the bazaar was probably these amazing little lanterns that were being sold everywhere made with little glass squares,as you can see in the picture with this blog that ash and Jim are in. They hang in all the restaurants over here.

We decided to head back to the hotel and detoured through back streets of turkey,on of the lanes was full of underwear shops which surprised me cause of the Muslims but as I found out off my tour guide later turkey is not a Muslim country its secular which I was impressed I knew from all my good old days of having to take religion as a class in high school (Secular religion is a term used to describe ideas, theories or philosophies which involve no spiritual component yet possess qualities similar to those of a religion,for those who don't know) so Muslims just live here and no one particular religion is recognized.

Had a nice fresh squeezed juice for lunch and subway only to be dissapointed they have no vege patty in the vege delight over here only salad,was still yum although my real quest was to find falafel with some hummus,which I could not for the life of me find anywhere! Maybe due to the fact my tour guide said falafel isn't actually Turkish,he also said Istanbul is a very touristy place and when we head south we will come across more authentic places and food.

Just down from our hotel this old Turkish guy had a little stall with 3 live rabbits and a roster on it was so cute and convinced Ash and I to let a rabbit tell our fortune ,he held a little drawer full of pieces of paper and the rabbit picked one with its mouth,was pretty funny ash and I had a good laugh,mine actually related to the fact I was travelling and catching up with an old friend...who knows maybe the rabbit really could tell my fortune hahaha

We met our tour guide that night for a meeting/discussion,I got really excited for our future journey,barish (our tour guide) said in Greece it's 40 degrees and the water temp is 29 degrees!!!
We've already been warned..or possibly nicely told off that we shouldnt drink beer in the street...typical Aussies.

Had an optional dinner with our tour which I think everyone came too,met some people everyone seems nice although there is a ratio of about 6 guys to 30 girls,Jim's a bit disappointed but I reminded him he had me and Ash so lucky him! Lol

Well it's time to get my poncho on as its apparently going to pour today and head down for breakkie,going to see the monumental sights of istanbul today!

Over and out!xx