Istanbul: Most certainly aa worthwhile place to visit. This is a major city of 15 million people with an ancient history and some well-preserved places to visit. 

Staying at the Hotel Dersaadet is like staying at your uncle’s house, that is, if your uncle was Turkish and lived only 200 meters from a world-famous mosque. The service was excellent and the rooms were comfortable if not fancy. Breakfast is tasty, with fruits, breads, and even olives along with the requisite coffee. Breakfast is served on the roof with a gorgeous view of the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, known to tourists as the Blue Mosque. The view cannot be beat. Prices are reasonable. The only two things to note are that there is some noise, in our case from a tomcat in some distress, and the bathrooms are a bit cramped. But the price is reasonable and the location is terrific. Recommended. 

Nearby there are some fine restaurants. You won’t have much problem finding something worthwhile. There is a Turkmenistani restaurant about 2 blocks away, and a very nice Turkish restaurant, the Ayasofia, just to the right and around the corner. The lentil soup at the Ayasofia restaurant was perhaps the best we’ve ever had, and Andrew thought their huge naan-like bread was the best bread ever. Abby agreed with the bread but definitely not with the soup. We also ate at another restaurant which I will try to look up; it started with R and was near the bazaar. All recommended. In fact, we loved Turkish food so don’t bother to eat anything else. 

One evening we took a bus to the Orient Restaurant which features Turkish entertainment along with dinner. This was a good stop, but you will have to enjoy eating with an audience that is almost entirely not Turkish. Definitely for visitors. However, the food was fine, the host spoke a seemingly infinite number of languages, and the dancing was quire good -- a little whirling dervish, some well-executed folk dancing, and more than a little belly dancing! The best belly dancer took a liking to Andrew, who went along quite nicely with her ministrations. The singing at the end was supposed to be a highlight but we found it painfully loud and really not that interesting unless you want to year everyone’s “national” song. The national song of the US is, of course, New York, New York; take this as a sign. The price is, I think, awfully high. Recommended if you have plenty of money and like this sort of thing, which is good as an overview of things Turkish. 

Leslie and Andrew took a tour through Istanbul to the Black Sea, and then back to Istanbul by boat. The tour guide was excellent and the trip was well worthwhile, particularly after arriving on the overnight flight. This tour also included the Spice Market so a very good choice. Abby and I later visited the Spice Market on our own and we had fun too. Recommended.

Our half day tour of the major sites was also good, with some suggestions if you choose this. First, the tour goes pretty quickly through some major sites, so if you really like to linger, you may be disappointed. However, we did the Hagia Sofia quite nicely with the tour (which comes with a ticket as part of the tour) and returned later to look again at the Blue Mosque which is free and requires no ticket. The tour concluded at the Grand Bazaar which gets a whole paragraph of it’s own. Our guide was quite good and having the bus saved us from getting lost. Istanbul is not difficult but there are a lot of people for sure and it is not easy to avoid the touts. Taxis are very cheap in Istanbul so that may make a good alternative. Recommended.

The Grand Bazaar is probably the leading non-historical highlight of Istanbul. This place is amazingly large and complicated to get around. Heaven help you if you actually want to buy a carpet there, though plenty of people would like to sell you one, and I mean really like to sell you one. Other things, like ceramics, scarves, and leather goods are more doable. Our suggestion is to do some shopping first to get an idea of the range of real prices, then make a deal with one of them at the low end of the range. Trust me, if you see something at one store, you’ll see it at another one. 

We loved Turkey and could have stayed several days. It would be fun to leave the city and explore someplace like Ephesus. There is always a chance for another trip someday! 

Next, on to Budapest!