The tours

Well, I haven't been on a holiday with others for a while so I had forgotten what is like when we cannot make a decision unless we consult with everybody; the last time that I had traveled on a holiday was longer than 10 years ago, we used to travel with 7 families to tour areas of New Zealand! each one of us have few kids, so matching their likes and dislikes was an impossibility, but we tried to satisfy every age.  The kids were not the problem though, as all they need is an ice cream or a hamburger, or a place to play ball.  It was the grown ups really who used to drag and drag and have to have enough time to decide if we were going to take that ride, and will it eventually empty their pockets.  In the end we used to decide on playing ball with the kids, as some of us were not able to pay for entertainment.

This trip was really fun, we went to all the places we wanted to go to, we sat in every cafe we wanted to set in, and we shopped till we dropped, but we didn't do historical trips. 

Ok, the first day when we arrived it was a free day, the next day was a free day too.  The third day was a city tour day, so we were all excited, woke up early and convinced my sister who suddenly had a back ache, then convinced my daughter who also suddenly had something or the other with her, so my friend packed their breakfast and we waited for the bus at 8:30 in the morning! so far so good.  Anyway, by the time every tourist gathered, it was 9:30, then we drove till we reached the first destination, and the crowd disembarked the huge bus, walking (literally running) after the tour guide, who held number 44 as a sign.  Well, suddenly we saw the Cafes,  I looked back to glance at my sister, I was almost going to tell her that I hadn't had coffee, when I saw her pulling my friend and walking towards the coffee shop. So we sat their while my friend made up a story to the tour about how her mum cannot walk and how my sister needs a bathroom every second and that she will delay us (lies of course) so we split, and sat in that cafe for hours, then went to the grand bazaar, bought our silver, went for lunch, shopped more, and went back to the hotel for a nap.

It was an exhausting day, well worth it though, as you learn a lot when you do things together rather than just walking behind a tour guide.

So because we know now that we all love shopping, we hired a bus and went on a shopping tour. then back to Galata bridge for lunch, it was really nice, having lunch with the cats and the seagulls who were waiting for us to finish so they hunt the table.  The owner of the restaurant was so happy with us, he gave us free tea.

Tomorrow I will tell you all about the Hammam we went to, it was built in 1777, watch this space