March Madness

March is disappearing in a whirl of activity. Devlin's spring break came the first week of March, and the two of us spent most of it in London. It was fun to be a tourist in a different city, especially one where there is no language barrier. We visited the Tower of London, the British Museum (twice) the Imperial War Museum, Covent Garden, Bankside, Marylebone and of course, Madame Tussaud's. One night, we walked to the theatre and saw the revival of "Oliver". We ate at some great restaurants, and some, not so great, and even enjoyed watching the BBC. (Britain is big on quiz shows)

The most astonishing thing I learned, is that Istanbul is cheap when compared with London! Just riding the tube cost 5 pounds a pop, which is roughly $7.50. Here I ride for roughly $1.00.

We got back just in time to get ready for Amy and Landon's arrival. They spent 5 days here, and we were on the go again: Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi palace, the Cisterns, the Spice Market, The Grand Bazaar, and the Bosphorus. It's always fun to see your city through the eyes of a guest, and even more wonderful to do it with loved ones. Luckily the weather was pretty good--still cool, but no rain, and mostly sunny. Istanbul always shows well, and you can't get a bad meal here. The days were full, and flew by much too quickly. 

The last night we ate at "Meyyali", a traditional Turkish restaurant near by. We chose several different mezes to start: eggplant in yoghurt, red pepper salsa, flat bread, eggplant and tomatoes, just to name a few; they were all were delicious. Then, we were brought a couple of mezes we didn't order. After greedily digging in, I realized it was fried lamb's liver. That was one dish that we never finished. Then of course, the main entree, and after dinner, a complimentary dish of desserts, followed by tea and Turkish coffee. I wasn't hungry again till Friday night.

Next Tuesday, I leave for the U.S. for a week. Emily has been patiently waiting for me, so we can go wedding dress shopping. We have a few other wedding details to attend to also, but the big push is to "Find the Dress!" I arrive back to Istanbul on the 31st, just in time to turn the calendar to April.