Day 1 - The Tour Begins

Finally, it was time to meet my fellow tour members. I must admit that I was a bit worried. These people were all strangers to me. I knew their names because I had received a tour roster, but that was all I knew about them. I also didn't really know what to expect from the tour, since this was my first ever group tour. (In the past, I've always traveled alone, or with a few friends.)

Things got off to a good start as we met and chatted for a bit before our orientation meeting. What I learned:
A 'Tour Buddy' is the one person (not your spouse) you need to keep track of on the trip. Before each departure, we did a 'buddy check' to make sure our buddy was on the bus. Great system! Eliminates the need for roll call. Then we all sat down and we each gave a brief introduction, with our names, home city, and tour experience.

Our group had only 12 members, four couples, two singles, and a man with his nephew. One couple was from Canada, the rest from the U.S. And of course, our tour guide, Mine (note: two syllables), was from Turkey.

After the introductions, Mine asked us each what we wanted from the tour and what we each expected our "Wow!" moment to be. She said she would do her best to make that moment happen for each of us. (At least half the people mentioned the balloon ride over Cappadocia as their "Wow!" moment.) Then, after we each chose a "Tour Buddy", we headed off on our first tour.

Cruise on the Bosphorus

After a quick walk across the city, we boarded a boat for a late afternoon cruise on the Bosphorus. The weather was beautiful, and it was a great way to relax and begin to get to know the other tour members. (You can see the bridge connecting Europe and Asia in the background.)
What I learned:
The Bosphorus is a body of water which separates Europe and Asia. It connects the Black Sea with the Aegean, and thus to the Mediterranean. Istanbul spans the Bosphorus, with part of the city in Europe and part in Asia. (We did not explore the Asian side, but after leaving Istanbul, the remainder of our tour was in Asia.)

 
 
As we were walking around, we saw people dressed in the European style as well as And I learned:
In Turkey, boys are often circumcised at about 8 years of age.[*] [*] This is their first step toward manhood. women who were covered in the Moslem style. (In Turkey, Moslem women wear headscarves, but they do not cover their faces.) One of the most interesting things we saw, though, was a young boy dressed as a Sultan. We asked Mine why he was dressed that way and she said he was a "circumcision boy".

Welcome Dinner

Odd fact:
Before I left home, a friend told me about her favorite restaurant in Istanbul, but she couldn't remember its name. This was it![*] We ended the day with a fantastic dinner together. The dish we were served was mashed eggplant topped with lamb cubes in gravy. It may not sound too exciting, but I loved it. They tell me its name translates to "the sultan was pleased" and I must say, I agree with him. I had eaten the same dish the evening before at another restaurant and it was just as good the second time. (I love eggplant, and I ate it wherever I could. Turkey is eggplant heaven!)