ISTANBUL

I finally have a chance to add some news. Long Flt over in a very crowded plane. One bathroom out of service (ours), and long lines of Turks.  You get the picture.

Met up with a delightful guide, Kaan, who is using alot of humor to help us over the jet lag and still propel us through a huge city of over 12 million people.  We spent yestderday seeing alot of tourists sights, including a massive amount of jewlery and artifacts plundered by the Turks in their many conconquests.  Emeralds as big as tea cups,enough gold to brighten the whole world, diamonds encrusted on everything...all from years 1300.  We spent a couple hours looking at this stuff and found out it was only 5% of what is still in the Turkish treasury.  I could have added a small piece myself as I bit into a "turkish delight" and a gold crown of 25 years popped off and flew to the floor.  Fun! After a hearty lunch we wondered into the Grand Bazzaar. There are covered streets lined with everything thing imaginable and fairly organized by item.  We were in the "jewlery street, then the carpets. The gold is awesome and abundant, and now, sadly for the buyer, very expensive.  No one would trade up for my gold crown.  Dang!