Turkey for Thanksgiving

It just so happened that our Eid al Adha holiday was at the same time as American Thanksgiving this year and several of us decided to take advantage of it. Mark & Stacey, Zach, Courtney and I went to Turkey for 8 days to celebrate. We flew direct from Muscat to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines and were delayed on both ends.
Stacey had done a lot of research and knew exactly what to see and do. She booked us into a room for the first two nights near the Grand Mosque and many of the other main sights. The only drawback to being so close to the Mosque was the call to prayer that woke us each morning.
We spent the first couple of days exploring Istanbul. The have a great train system that was cheap and well used. One of our first excursions was a boat ride up the Bosphorous River. There were several palaces, forts and ancient buildings to see and when we finally got off, we were at the entrance to the Black Sea. A fort was at the top of the hill, so we climbed the hill for the views and found a great fish restaurant for lunch. A few of the other sight-seeing highlights were the Aya Sofia, The Sultan’s Palace, and the Grand Bazarre.
In the middle of the trip, Zach and Courtney went to Capadocia and Mark, Stacey and I went to Bursa and Iznik. Bursa was great, but Iznik had little to do. We all enjoyed our first Turkish Bath in Bursa and came out feeling fresh and having much less skin. It was quite an experience and something everyone should try if they go. We also had our best meal here as we enjoyed Kofta which was lamb meatballs, with a tomato sauce and sour cream on flat bread. It was spectacular!