I'm currently sitting in our hotel lobby in Istanbul writing this blog entry. It's a surprisingly plush hotel for a mere 3 star..the taxi had stopped a few yards away from the hotel in front of a dingy pink building with an ageing placard attached to the wall which worried us for a bit but then it was all right after all. We decided not to bother with eating out the first night and had an overpriced 'special' at the restaurant..only compensated by the spectacular view of the blue mosque at night from the roof terrace.

Yesterday we did the sights - Topkapi palace, Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque (which has underfloor heating - we so need it in England!) all of which were beautiful, especially the mosque. Apparently Sultan Ahmet I intended that it would rival Aya Sofya which is just across the road, and he definitely succeeded. Mr C had his camcorder out most of the day, and for those of you who will end up seeing the video, be warned: most of the time you'll hear me in the background saying 'turn it off! turn it off!'. Then of course, on to the Grand Bazaar. Designer Dentist blogged that you can't get decent leather handbags there - I beg to differ! I love my Balenciaga fake..the first place I went to said 160 Liras, the next 220 which I bargained down to 150 but was still too much, and eventually I got it for 65 thanks to Mr C's wily bargaining skills ('We're poor students from Bangladesh!'..right). Mr C got almost forced into buying a turkish tea set which we just paused for a second to look at..the next thing we knew the man was saying in a huff 'If you won't take it for 45, I'll just GIVE it to you!' and packaged the whole thing up and thrust it into Mr C's unwilling hands. We didn't even have 45 Liras, and ended up paying £20 and leaving, shaking our heads in disbelief.