:ast day Istanbul and onto Dubai!

Hey guys,

24/7/11

Well, what a day!!!!  We had brekky, checked out and at our first attraction by 8:50am! Pretty good considering it was another late night lastnight, we had 3 attractions to see today before 1pm and we were both tired and probably a little grumpy.

We started at the Basilica Cistern, first in line so no crowd and good photo opportunities when we got inside.  After this it was across the road to Haghia Sofia (Church of holy wisdom).  We managed to do this in record time of 30 mins as once again we were early and the cruise ships hadn’t let out the crowds yet.  Haghia Sofia is more than 1400 years old and is among the worlds greatest archaeological achievements.

After Haghia Sofia it was off to Topkapi Palace.  This was amazing and would have loved to have the time to go around with a guide and hear the history behind it all.  But time was pressing on and we had a plane to catch. We managed to look at everything in there that was open and saw an 86 carat diamond. Surprisingly enough Toot came away from it fairly easily and without a fight (she must be more tired than I thought).

Once attractions were finished we headed back to the hotel to change our bags around and waited for our transfer to the airport. We arrived at the airport, checked in and ate a whopper meal between us for lunch and waited to board the plane to Dubai.

We finally arrived in Dubai and got shuttled from the tarmac to the terminal as it was busy.  Just after going through passport control we had day packs x-rayed and of course Gordo got pulled over and asked to unpack it, they thought she had a gun.  Fear not, it was a cable up against a padlock and they let her through.  Waited for bags then got transfer to hotel.  The room is awesome and the beds are extra comfy. Finally got to bed at about 12am.

25/7/11

Up again early this morning. Did a city tou,r which showed us all the new projects which are planned for Dubai and saw some of the well known landmarks.  We drove over onto the island shaped like a palm and went and visited the already built bits of Dubailand. We saw the model for the rest of it which is to be completed by 2030. It is going to be huge!

Tonight we have our night in the desert, which includes four wheel driving in the dunes, dinner and some traditional entertainment, should be fun!

Love always

Toot and Gordo Xx.

PS We will be home soon, dont wory!