Our big holiday vacation - Part 1 (Istanbul)

We were so very fortunate to get to spend just over three weeks on vacation this holiday season.  At first it started as a trip to South Africa, but after determining our cheapest flight options were via Turkish Airlines who also offered free stop overs in Istanbul, we couldn't resist taking a 4 day stopover in one of our favorite cities, Istanbul.  Of course it was Lily's first time to both countries and we didn't expect she would be overjoyed with Istanbul, but she really turned out to like it a lot.  She was completely amused by the "carpet guys".  We had one in particular that tried to befriend us and then suck us into his very expensive carpet shop.  Lily thought this was very funny and kept asking about the carpet guy the remainder of the trip.  She also really got into shopping and negotiating at the Grand Bazaar.  We made no major purchases but she came home with loads of little trinkets for all her friends.

We made return visits to all the amazing sites we saw during our last visit:  the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar, boat tour on the Bosphorous, Turkish Bath experiences, etc.  But we also enjoyed some new sites that we hadn't experience last time:  Galata Tower, Dolmabahce Palace, the Archealogical Museum, and the Cisterns.

This experience in Istanbul was also very different traveling with a child this time.  The Turks love children apparently.  And I can't stress enough how much they love children.  Lily was lavished with love from every person she encountered from the hotel staff to street vendors to security at the airport.  It made us feel very safe traveling with her in the amazing city.

Here are just a few of the amazing sites we visited.

Cistern

Inside Hagia Sophia

Outside Hagia Sophia

Outside Blue Mosque 

Baklavaria (yummy!)

Spice Market

Outside Dolmabahce Palace

Galata Tower

Istanbul at night