merhaba

We are having some difficulty uploading photos to the blog...we will try posting them before leaving turkey tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Still here in istanbul. Yesterday we randomly went to a coffee shop and met a turkish man named "mike" (that's his chosen name -- apparently he picked it from some cowboy novel) who owned the shop/hotel. He has been to san francisco a million times and turned out to be very helpful. He introduced us to some american girls who were staying at his hotel. We ended up cruising the grand bazaar and spice bazaar together, and then sarah and i went to a hamam (turkish bath house) where burly turkish women scrubbed the living daylights out of us. it was delightful. we finished our evening with a friend of mine, anita, who is living in istanbul. she took us to a very busy section of town near taksim square, which is much less touristy (meaning much cheaper). we went to a few bars and spent a while laughing at a group of college-age european exchange students. the highlights were when the DJ played "istanbul (not constantinople)" and "hava nagila." oy vey!

More to come fans. Something tells me this is just the beginning...