I have been having email issues again.  Something about this hotel’s Internet or maybe Outlook or Yahoo is having a "hopefully temporary" problem.  I have sent an email about loading DoraMac and about our first few days and hotels in Istanbul.  Hope you got them.  I had several failure notices from those who use AOL.  Maybe the file was too big because it had lots of photos.  They are posted on www.mydoramac.com so you can see them there.  We will be here tomorrow and then  on the 21st we’ll leave for Izmir.  We start out on a ferry which takes us across the Sea of Marmara and then we board a train for the remaining 7 or so hours it takes to get to Izmir.  Turks say, "Take the bus, not the train."  But Randal wants a train ride and Lonely Planet says the trains are fine. We will travel with our friends Linda and Michael.   The men who run the hotel where Linda and Michael are staying want them to send an email verifying that the train was just fine or they won’t believe it! ( Linda and Michael are our friends on the SV B’Sheret.  We traveled with them to Delhi and the Taj.  They are here now and it’s fun to have friends to travel with and share the confusion.  However keeping track of 4 people as you wander the Grand Bazaar was a challenge.) 

  The akdeniz otel is just off the main street of Sultanahmet so a great location.  We have hot water in the shower, the room is warm and quiet at night and free wifi.  Instead of a huge breakfast we have an electric kettle, tea bags, and china cups and saucers.  There is a frig but we need the plug for our computer or the electric kettle.  You get the idea.  No need to send photos.  It’s a room with a bed, a wardrobe and a bathroom but you can turn around in the shower without banging into the walls.  The tv doesn’t work or the light over the bed, but there is plenty of toilet paper which there wasn’t in India.

  So that’s a quick update.  Hope to send more photos soon.

Ru