Istanbul

The main thing to do in Istanbul, that I've seen, is walk through the Grand Bazaar, with it's thousands of near identical shops, and get yelled at, sung to and generally inimidated. I also had the opportunity to take a ferry to the Asian half of Turkey and although it was very similar to the European side, I'm well on my way to 5 continents in 5 months. We also just found our today that we are taking part in a homestay program tomorrow with a local high school, it should be cool to see how they live here. We are also touring the big attractions, although the Hagia Sophia somehow didn't make the list. Most people are already antsy to get back to sea, myself included. Istanbul, although highly anticipated, isn't exactly what we had thought it would be like. That's not to say, however, that it's many Mosques aren't beautiful or it's culture rich, just that it was overhyped. It could also be my 2 in the morning mentallity, being up for gangway watch dampens even re most cheerful spirit.