Colin left for the airport via "taksi" at 4 AM today. Here he is: tired and ready to start his long journey home to Chicago.
We had the most amazing staff here at the Osmanhan. They all went out of their way to make us comfortable during our stay here. We will miss them!
After a late breakfast today, Paul, Annaliese and I set off for a last tour of the city. Several neighborhood shop owners/cafe staff asked us, "Where is your son?"
One of the fun shops we discovered today was filled with an odd assortment of wares: khaftans, paintings, Russian and Greek icons, good luck charms, and shadow puppets. The shop owner is an expert on Turkish shadow puppets, which are made of camel hide. He explained many of the various characters shown here in his shop window.
We ate our last lunch at a little local cafe with Puffy Bread displayed on each of the outdoor tables.
After lunch we all did a little bit of last minute shopping before returning home. Paul and I bought two plates at this lovely Tile and Ceramic Shop (although not the one in the picture)
And Annaliese bought two colorful Turkish towels at this little textile shop (again, not the one in the picture!)
Colin should be home in his apartment in Chicago in about six hours. He begins the next quarter on Monday. Paul, Annaliese and I will begin our long journey home tomorrow morning at 3:30 AM, when we will leave the Osmanhan for the airport. We have a layover in Amsterdam; hopefully that is not too crazy. If all goes well, we will be home tomorrow afternoon, after about 16 hours in transit.
Thanks for following Colin's blog! Farewell from Istanbul!
4 comments:
Lovely last photos!
Again, thanks so much for letting us travel along with you!
Thanks for the last post and the great pictures of everyone! My trip home was - surprisingly - uneventful. I was expecting some crazy hassles b/c of the terrorist thing, but nothing. Just the usual plus a pat-down. The worst part was the howling, gurgling frog demon of a child that sat across from me on the Munich-O'Hare flight. 64° in Istanbul and 5° in Chicago. Blekh.
Mary says it was 27 below in Brainerd!
It's been 75+ in San Diego the past couple of days. I'll stay here.
Think of that last post of mine...
that's over 100 degrees difference. Seems almost impossible. I'm definitely staying here.
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