Delightful Turkey Trip 12th - 21st April 2008 Part 8

20th April 2008 (Sunday)



Today is the last day of the trip...



Couldn't sleep peacefully last night due to the noise pollution! Cars wheezing by... Ambulance or police cars siren... people talking and shouting loudly... ARGH!!! Woke up by the natural alarm clock at 5am when the mosque blasted the prayers....



After a quick breakfast, we decided to walk around the hotel to check-out its surroundings since we didn't manage to do it last night... Most of the shops are not opened yet... we saw a lovely looking Church opposite our hotel but the 'housekeeper' of the church is not very friendly. Saw 2 cute cats outside the church and 2 big cute dogs inside the church!



We were nearly 'stalked' by this weird looking guy who's a bit 'drunk'... We quickly made our way back to the hotel after going to the furthest end of the street.



Our first stop was Dolmabahce Palace. There's a long queue man!!!!! But what's inside is definitely worth the wait. The interior is really very grand! The chandeliers!!! The 'crystals' along the staircase!! Even the head maid's room is so beautiful!!!!!! We need to buy another ticket for permission to take pictures inside the Dolmabahce Palace ($7 Turkish Lira).



After that, we went to this small town called Ortakoy. There's this very 'arty-farty' flea market going on. The place is quite scenic as behind it is the Bosphorus River. I managed to buy a hand-painted magnet and a set of postcards from this artist. His works are very cute. Its very "Where's Wally" and he always paints himself as a character amidst all the passersby in the pictures. He also painted a lot of stuff on his cat.

<---- The Artist's Cat (which has a Turkish name, and a Turkish feline girlfriend!)

XL & I shared the gigantic potato stuffed with a lot of fillings and some fried mussels and meal balls for lunch. Burp..... Damn filling!!!!!

After that, we went for our Bosphorus Cruise. We had the WHOLE ship to ourselves!!! The breeze made all of us very sleepy..... ahaha.... instead of listening to Taner's explanations on the sites that we can see along the cruise, we began to take group pictures!

Following this, we went to a super big Shopping Mall in Istanbul. We managed to try the fast food - McDonald's & KFC - there! hehe.... it tastes ok lah :)

This trip to Turkey is indeed a very fruitful one as its filled with lots of fun, laughter and culture :)

Remember! If anyone of you wants to go to Turkey, choose CTC Travel (Singapore)!!