I Love You, California!

It began snowing the first morning we were in Istanbul and until the day we left it never really stopped. Today especially, snow just dumped on Istanbul! However, we weren't going to let that get in the way of exploring the city. Entrance of our hotel Snowball fight! Today's plan was to visit the Topkapi Palace. This place was so big we could have spent days in it, but we picked a couple parts of it that we were interested in and went from there.  Model of the Palace  The first stop was the harem. To warm up we stopped for soup and tea. After we were warmed up we went through a few of the galleries of weapons and jewels owned by those who lived in the palace. (We weren't allowed to take pictures there.) Next we were off to a different part of town to tour the Chora Museum and see the city walls. We got off the train and found a palm tree in the snow! Chora Museum We were walking along and here so...

We got in to Istanbul late at night on Wednesday, so we made plans to meet Margaretta Thursday morning for brunch. We met her at a top floor restaurant near our hotel and enjoyed lunch with a beautiful view. A storm was moving in so it was fun to watch the clouds and snow come and go from way up high. Snowing in Istanbul! We were happy to be able to spend some time with Margaretta and have her play tour guide around Istanbul. She took us to the note-worthy places. These places are so magnificent and I wish we could capture all of the beauty in a picture, but the pictures really don't show how spectacular everything is. You just have to be there and experience it for yourself. First on the list was the Blue Mosque. Next was the Hagia Sophia. There are many cats who live in the Hagia Sophia and Will made friends with one! Earlier in the day there were several inches of snow covering the ground, but once it stoppe...