Hoscakal Turkey.

Goodbye Turkey. Thank you. And may he Evil Eye protect you.

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360

Back on the rooftops for our final night in Istanbul, we hit 360.

One of Istanbul's most famous cool bars, well sure it was a couple of years ago.  But it still retains it's fantastic views, its could just do with a bit of a nic-nak up, just a little tired (a bit like us).  Great cocktails but you sure pay for them.

Istanbul rocks #8.

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Ist. Mod.

To refresh ourselves after the onslaught of the ancient, we took a stroll around the Istanbul Modern.

This was a pleasant affair, even in spite of the large amount of video installations on display.

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Revenge of the mannequins.

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Istanbul rocks #7.

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Dining @ The Grand Bazaar.

We dined atop the roof of the Grand Bazaar at the wholesalers cafe.

As part of the Turkish hospitality, lunch was insisted upon to finalise our transactions.

Again, one of those simple meals, that is oh so delicious.

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Textile adventures in the Grand Bazaar.

The Castle loves a good exotic textile, so we braved the Grand Bazaar for a sort and fossick mission.

On our earlier foray into the bazaar we had come across Osman & Ulas, two brothers who had let us run loose in their shops with no pressure or hassle to buy.  So we headed back into the labyrinth to search them out.   Ulas had a small shop in the bazaar and his older brother Osman ran a wholesale business, up a staircase and on the rooftop of the bazaar.

After an hour or two, several glasses of tea, we rationalised and put half of the goodies back onto the shelves and concluded our deal.  (This also included a complimentary lunch)

Turkish Post now has a crate of fine goods on the high seas, back to Australia.

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Istanbul rocks #6.

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Ephesus and its treasures.

Edited highlights of our day trip to the amazing ancient city of Ephesus.

We would not advise trying this in the middle of summer.

30 degrees felt like 45 amongst all of this marble.

Still all so fabulous.

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