Turkey - Istanbul

My tour is 19 days Turkey and Syria. According to Lonely planet and some Internet reading Canadians can not get Syrian visa at the border.
There is a Syrian Consulate in Istanbul and Syrian visa can be obtained there. I get up in the morning and head to the Syrian consulate. Syrian consulate in the other part of town, so I have to take the tram, a funicular (it is very cool and fast) and the metro. Sure enough I get lost trying to get there, I had to ask about 10 people, my Turkish pronunciation of the street it doesn’t make it any easier, and finally I get there.
I am told by the visa clerk that in order to get the visa I have to get a letter from Canadian consulate that I am a Canadian citizen (what is the passport for???) and to pay 45 euros. It was already 10 am Syrian consulate works until from 9:30 am to 11 am, it is Friday, my tour leaves on Sunday no way I can make it to Canadian consulate and back and get the visa today! Anyway I took a taxi and went to Canadian consulate. Canadian consulate is on a pedestrian street, the take drops me off in front of the street; still takes me a while to find the consulate, there is a Canadian flag but it is up there very hard to see.

The lady at the Canadian Consulate is super nice, gives me the letter very fast (I had to pay 50 dollars for the letter) and whishes me good luck. Even with good luck I am not going to make it back on time, it was 11 am! Well I guess I am not leaving with the tour, I will have to spend an extra day in Istanbul to get the Syrian visa.

In the after noon I went on a couple of hours Bosphoros cruise. I really enjoyed the cruise; it was very interesting to watch on one side big, luxurious houses, villas, private beaches, boats, parks, restaurants.

The opposite side, old city, beautiful mosques, old buildings, parks and restaurants as well.

If I just looked at this bridge I could think for a moment that I am back home in Vancouver ( hmmm, yes I do miss home)

Istanbul is so different from any other cities I have seen so far, not wonder it is described in the travel book as the place where East meets West; it is fascinating, huge, beautiful, unexpected, clean, and mysterious. Bazars, markets, mosques, gorgeous architecture, parks, flowers, food, Turkish delights, and this city is truly captivating… This city has everything one can dream on.......