It's raining, it's pouring...

When I was backpacking through Europe after college, my friends and I ended up traveling with an Australian guy named Aaron for a couple of weeks. I remember a few snippets from my time with him (I learned what Vegemite was and that I never wanted to eat it again). However, the one thing that stuck with me was his commentary on Istanbul. As we planned this trip, circling in my mind were Aaron's words, if you go to Istanbul, bring your own toilet paper. Hmmmmm, what implications does this have for our trip? How much toilet paper should I pack? 

Aaron's warning quickly left my mind this past January. On my way to India, I had a long layover in Istanbul, so I actually left the airport, took a taxi to the happening part of town and walked around for about 5 hours. I LOVED it! In a nutshell, it was lush, green, quaint, and friendly. So when we decided to spend one glorious day touring Istanbul after our trip to Antalya, I was so excited. I should have realized that grass does not become lush and green without copious amounts of water!

It rained the entire time we were walking around the city. The great packer that I am forgot to bring jackets, rain coats, hats, or umbrellas. My kids were troopers. We were absolutely soaked, but we still managed to see a few things in Istanbul!



I had NO idea that Istanbul was the only city that
spreads over two continents-Europe and Asia!
We were driving by this sign on the bridge and I couldn't
really ask the driver to pull over so I could get a better picture.
Although I admit, I was tempted.



Massive traffic jams at
every turn in Istanbul



Turkish dude taking advantage
of the traffic jam. Just trying to make a livin'.

View of one of the many bridges 

There were so many mosques.
They were all beautiful!

We went to a delicious Turkish kitchen for dinner one night.
The hostess asked us our nationality when we entered and then
plopped these flags on our table.  We were the only people in the entire
restaurant with flags on our table!

Want an appetizer? In Istanbul you don't order them
from a menu, you grab them from a man pushing a cart.

Hagia Sophia:  basilica, mosque, and now a museum...

The Cistern in Istanbul:  we walked underground and explored this magical cavern.  The columns were illuminated and created an eerie almost mystical feeling.

So full circle back to the toilet paper issue.  Let's visit the restrooms of Istanbul.

I thought it was important for you to see
these mothballs in the sink area.  I was hoping
you could actually smell them.  Little did I know, that
a Turkish woman would begin hitting me repeatedly
in the arm for taking pictures. I continued to snap photos
and walked away with an earful and a bruised arm.
So please enjoy this picture.

This sign was inside the bathroom stall.
Solid waste?
There are no trash cans in the stalls,
so I guess you are supposed to
scoop your poop out of the toilet and
carry it to the sink area and throw it out
in the garbage can with the paper towels.
Eeewwwww! 

Antalya, Turkey

We went to Antalya, Turkey for almost a week.  We rested on the beach, played in the indoor pool, and ate way too much. The boys learned the fine art of Foosball, our hope being that they will be fully prepared for college life. For me, the highlight was losing repeatedly to Emet in ping pong.

We did rent a car for a day and explore the city life. We found quickly that there wasn't much city and not a lot of life. We did notice that every building's roof had water barrels. We assume this is where their hot water comes from. 

We walked around Old City and took in the sights.

We ended up buying some combination of these that
makes a flavored all natural tea.  

A man hand sewing a carpet.

There were blankets strewn over everything.

Love the spelling!

Yes Officer, I do have my helmet.
It's right here in my hand.

Plug Me In. Hook Me Up.

I hear you whispering. I know what you're saying.  Did she even go to Turkey? ... or maybe She must have gotten herself into a snafu and ended up being detained at the airport for the last week... or better yet ...Monica probably pulled a stupid stunt and is now sitting in a Turkish prison for the long haul.

Well, rest easy. The answer isn't as fun as any of those.

Food poisoning, virus, fungus, bacteria, amoebas and parasites. Not sure which one it was, but I was attacked. I will save you from the details of my intestinal tract for the last 8 days, but let me reassure you. It hasn't been pretty. And it definitely does not smell of roses.

Here is a picture of the IV I was hooked up to in the Emergency Room (I needed 3 bags!). Luckily, I am on the mend. Not my usual sunshiny self, but so much better.

Hopefully, now the rumors can stop.