Thursday, October 5. We depart Istanbul

We had breakfast at the hotel, figured tips and left them in our room, made arrangements for a taxi to take us to Ataturk Airport.
Some last minute shots of our room.  I really loved our room. It was so comfortable and nice.

And we really enjoyed the sweeping views from the rooftop garden. It was just so pleasant up there.

OH! There was a bee on the rooftop garden!!

Driving out the the airport, I couldn't help but take a few photos as we were leaving.  I snapped some of the ancient Roman walls that surround this ancient city.

Little pieces of antiquity everywhere you look.  

 So different from our country.

But then, some things are the same:

Yep, there was KFC right there in Old Town Istanbul. I think I saw a McDonalds, too.

I don't know if you can see it, but we were driving past this body of water (Marmara Sea, technically--just before the Strait of Bosphorus)  and it is FILLED with ships.

 Ship after ship after ship. I am guessing that Istanbul and Turkey have all control over this teeny strip of water that gets ships between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea--which has seaports for many other countries besides Turkey.

Turkey is BIG.  We saw but a tiny part of Istanbul. Turkey is supposed to be America's ally.  We didn't feel like there were friendly feelings towards American's in general. As a matter of fact, Turkey quit issuing travel Visas to American citizens shortly after we returned to the states, so we feel like we got out just in time.  We met some amazingly nice people--the ones at our hotel, our cute guide on Saturday. Waiters were always a bit too friendly sometimes.  Gee, they just needed business! They had to make a living, too.  The bee people were all nice.  We felt lucky to find as many English-speakers as we did. It's a big place. The architechture and history is phenomenal. Their antiquities are impressive.

I'm glad I got to go. Thanks to Athena and Athena's generous friend, Anne, I was able to go on this grand adventure. Thank you, Ladies! It's one trip I will not soon forget!