Black Friday in Grand Bazaar,Istanbul!!

Last day in Istanbul was meant for shopping. It happened to coincide with Black Friday in U.S. Except our shopping was at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, which is more than 400 hundred years old. We bought a couple of souvenirs and headed to our next hotel which was closer to the airport. The Parthenon in the Acropolis and the Acropolis museum were quite amazing and so rich in history. But one thing to note is Athens is bankrupt and there is not much money for anything there. There are no audio devices you can rent anywhere. The guides charge ridiculous amounts to explain their rich history and that is surely an area that has to improve. Throughout whole of Greece-No Audio Guides!!!! Turkey is very well suited for the tourist. You can rent audio guides almost anywhere which may not be the best, but can be a decent alternative to a human guide. We did not try the hop-on hop-off as accessibility to the centre of town in a vehicle in many of these cities is very limited. As we sit on our flight back, I am surely thankful we got to visit without too much drama(barring the lone incident on the Athens metro) and we were able to stay healthy throughout the trip. Sahana did get bored in Mykonos and Santorini ESP in late evenings when the town shuts down and there is no TV. Thanks to books downloaded on the iPad, we were able to survive this. We surely saved the best for last as Istanbul is a city of so many contrasts and it was beautiful to see the blend of cultures living there in peace!!!