Just spent the last couple of weeks learning more about flight routes in and out of Turkey than I think I really needed to know.  But the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is that I have booked my 6 nights in Istanbul, and we have 11 nights at the house planned.

I bought a couple of travel guides for Istanbul, but have spent more time surfing the net to get desintation idea’s.  I think 6 nights will be enough to scratch Istanbul’s surface -but not long enough to reveal all it has to offer.

I thought I’d better brush up on my Turkish, so signed up for some Saturday morning classes in Santa Monica being run by the local LA Turkish American Society.  It was a small class – Gladys is married to a Turkish Neurosurgeon.  Her and her 4 kids are all learning Turkish so they can Skype with their extended family.  Feruza is from Uzbekistan – she visits Turkey every summer, and by the look of it – she’s reconnecting with her gypsy roots.

Most of the class was in Turkish – but I was able to pick up the odd word. While socializing after the class, the teacher passed on some words of wisdom about my trip to Istanbul — “a women without a headscarf is like a house without curtains – it’s either for sale, or for rent!”