I’m playing catchup with pictures, as we don’t have the best wi-fi so it’s hard to upload pictures. Sasha and I just arrived back in Istanbul after spending two days in Cappadocia, which is in the middle of Turkey (Asian continent). It was incredible, and I’ve got lots of unique pictures to share tomorrow. As for now, I’m posting the photos from our second day in Istanbul. We did a private tour with True Blue Tour in the morning – Yilmaz was the nicest, most knowledgeable tour guide. We rode up a mountain on the Pierre Loti cable car, drank authentic apple tea, went inside a mosque and learned all about Islamic rituals, got a personal tour of the Egyptian Spice Market (met the Turkish Al Pacino – see pic below), tour a boat tour along the Bosphorus, then we on our own for the rest of the day. We  bought hot chestnuts from a street vendor, walked through the Grand Bazaar, ate at the amazingly delicious Amedros Cafe, then bought lots of presents for family at the markets. We walked back to the hotel after dark and ate locally, given that we had to be up at 5am to go to the airport in the morning. I’m totally ready for friends to plan a trip to Istanbul so I can share lots of tips! More pictures to come tomorrow.

Best halloumi cheese and portobello mushroom dish on planet earth!