Well Katie and I are once again sitting in a lounge at the airport. This one is the Turkish Business Class lounge in Istanbul. Unbelievable! We showered in a room that was almost as big as our hotel room in Istanbul. I didn’t use the robe or slippers provided but the rain shower was much appreciated. We spent all day yesterday going to Bursa, the former capital of the Ottoman empire and apparently the happening skiing resort. We were picked up from our hotel and after picking other people up and transferring busses, we were finally on our way to Bursa. After 4 hours in traffic, we stopped in an industrial town at a crappy souvenir shop. Were they related somehow to the tour operators? I don’t know, but you could buy the same Turkish Delight, like every 20’ in Istanbul, coffee makers, refrigerator magnets etc just like every 20’ in Istanbul. What the hell! Another 2 hours and we stopped at a 600 year old tree. What? Then we stopped at the tour guides grandfathers coffee shop but nobody would get off the bus so on to lunch. It’s 3 pm now and we are having a cheesy tourist lunch at a place with no views except tourist buses that routinely come in. People are getting angry on the bus. Everyone can see this is a ripoff. Anyway made it back to our hotel at 11pm. I forgot to say we smuggled beers aboard the bus so all was not lost. Today we walked 7 miles exploring sights we hadn’t seen. Who knew the seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church was in Istanbul. A modest church though there strikingly more gold and chandeliers than in a Mosque. We hustled back to our hotel for our airport shuttle, but managed to stop at a bazaar and by some Kilim pillow covers. excellent buy at $10 a piece. Now on the airplane headed foe Entebbe.
