Last day in Istanbul

Today was a much slower day than yesterday. We were beat after walking all day and eating late, so we slept in a little and went out for a late lunch down the street. Good food but chilly on the rooftop terrace. As we were heading down the owner of the restaurant also owned a rug shop (they are everywhere so you need to look a bit off the main streets for cheaper and better quality rugs. I have been looking for a Kilim rug (handwoven flat wool rug with natural dye) after seeing one I liked in the bazaar yesterday. The best made Turkish rugs can last for decades. They clean and repair them. There was one in the store that was 80 years old, which is crazy. We bought 2 sizes and headed out for the day. We took a ferry to Asia for the day. Definitely a sleepier part of the city and we really just wandered in and out of shops. We definitely preferred the liveliness of the European side. We have taken a lot of public transport together, but none have been as confusing as trying to get the ferry tickets back. We thought we had enough and it let G through but none of the rest of us. I left to try to buy more (impossible), then Tige had to leave kids on both sides of turnstiles to try to help (still impossible:). After all of that you could tap in. So frustrating!

Back to the other side and we had dinner at the Old Ottoman Restaurant and with full bellies went home to shower and pack before our early pickup for the flight to Cappadocia.Read more