istanbul with a keating

this weekend we left town once more, for our last trip as a family of three.  from now until july (or late june, i foolishly hope??), we'll be home-bound, waiting for baby brudder to make his entrance.  maybe it's that we have an excessively cute and loving two year old, or maybe it's that ben and i both realize these days with just one little man in our life are numbered, but we are soaking up every minute with him that we can.  and he is so much fun - so that helps too, i suppose.  

a shot from two weeks ago at rubi platinum to remind you of his adorableness, even with food on his face

so on thursday we packed up the car and hit the highway for bolu, where we would spend the night before continuing onto istanbul the next morning.  ben had the idea to break up the drive, and between my ever shrinking bladder (thanks, pregnancy), general discomfort and dirty house (thanks, renovations), i happily agreed.  

emre naps before we hit the road

bolu is a tiny town in the mountains about midway between ankara and istanbul.  once a tourist destination, it doesn't have much going on anymore since a tunnel was built, eliminating the need for travelers enroute to ankara or istanbul to stop for a rest or to wait out bad weather or an accident (the road used to travel up and over a mountain).  it's sad, because the place is beautifully green & peaceful.  we enjoyed an overnight stay at the one hotel there, where the decor dates back to the 90s and the staff are incredibly friendly.

there was a group of filipino tourists, several of whom wanted their picture taken with emre, and a college reunion taking place

a buffet dinner was included with the room charge.  the chef - upon seeing i was pregnant, i suppose?  - grabbed my plate and filled it up for me, sprinkled on fresh oregano, and then insisted i take some yogurt as well.  it was delicious!

the waiter gave emre a balloon & it was, as of yet, the best thing that's ever happened to him...

...well, that and watermelon

the room had some interesting messages for us, including this one under the toilet seat, and glow in the dark paint above the bed which spelled out 'angels on your pillow!' and kind of freaked us out when we turned out the lights (ben got up to make sure he'd locked the door).

emre took a bag of hazelnuts from the minibar for the road - and within 30 minutes had eaten the entire thing.

we arrived in istanbul around 1pm on friday.  we were meeting matt keating, who was in town for an mba-related trip.  ben and emre settled into the room for a nap while matt and i took off for a walk & lunch in the neighborhood.  it was great to get some 'cousin' time together, catching up.

meanwhile, back at the hotel... this

we had a wonderful weekend (with amazing weather!) that somehow did not inspire many photographs. on saturday we all ventured to ortakoy and besiktas, where emre napped and we felt an earthquake and took a ferry across the bosphorus & back.  on sunday matt and i did some more walking around the city before meeting up with emre and ben for a stroll down istiklal boulevard & dinner at our favorite thai place, cok cok (choke-choke).  

how emre spent sunday (not being spoiled - at all)

ben's cousins let emre pick some of their old toys to take with him, and that is how we ended up with a barbie corvette and several barbie hairbrushes, one small plastic hairdryer plus a freaky plastic baby and one tiny green shoe, which must be referred to as 'baby shoe.'

uncle matt!

everyone at the hotel just got used to the kid toting the blue convertible.

on monday it was time for us to head home, and matt to begin his busy week with his mba group.  we said our goodbyes and headed for the ferry, which we took out of istanbul, avoiding some traffic.

emre's first ferry ride

not letting go of that hairdryer

we had a pleasant enough drive home and have quickly settled back in to life in ankara.  the end!