My one-day stay in Turkey was too short for such a destination. Looking out the plane's window, I saw breathtaking greenery and beautiful houses with red-tile roofs. I could also see the giant bridge that was built above the Mediterranean to provide a linkage point between Turkey and Europe.

We reached the "Holiday Inn" hotel in the evening, almost 8:00 PM. After we rested for a while, we went out for a walk in the streets. The weather was terribly humid that my hair kept sticking to my face. Keeping in mind the approximate Mediterranean, it is no wonder! I found it very weird that the streets of Istanbul can be empty of people at such an early hour. There were only rushing cars and it seemed a bit risky to walk in the streets alone.

Taking a walk near the sea, I noticed the big number of bars and discos around and a lack of restaurants. We took a taxi and tried to interact with the Turkish driver in English, but apparently, very few people in this country can understand English. We had difficulty explaining to the driver that we want to go to a restaurant to have dinner. The driver announced that he knew a good place and we seemed to have traveled out of Turkey as he took us to that place! It was too distant, add to it that they serve no dinner at all. On the way to that restaurant, the driver would brief us on the historical places
we passed by and slow down for us to have a better view. I saw palaces and old mosques, and frankly I wished it was daylight for us to take some pictures.

With disappointment we left that restaurant and took another taxi, whose driver warned us of thieves and crooks. He took us to a restaurant situated to the street. I found it somehow bizarre for me to sit there, but I had no other choice. Luckily, one of the waiters was from Jordan so we could easily interact.

We ordered Kebab. It wasn't as tasty as the ones we would have in our homeland but it was fine. The waiter recommended that we try their local apple-flavored tea, and since I like to try everything new, I went for that tea. It turned out that it's served cold, not exactly my favorite tea. :)

We spent the next day in the hotel's garden. The garden is planted with different kinds of flowers and trees, with statues here and there. Tables with chairs and umbrellas are distributed around the place. We chose a good table near the pool. After a few minutes, a gorgeous woman in a bathrobe came to the garden. What is she doing wearing this in the garden?? Another two fabulous women followed, accompanied by a bunch of men, flashlights, and cameras. It turned out that these gorgeous ladies are super models exhibiting sleeping gowns and bathrobes. Do I need to tell you where my companion's attention was focused? :)

The modeling staff approached us and asked that we kindly leave our table so that they can shoot where we are seated. Apparently, we chose the best table in the place. My companion and I consulted each other in Arabic and we decided that since we came to the garden before they did, and since we are Jordanians, we will prove that the saying about the stubborn Jordanian minds is right and we will refuse to leave the table. So I politely passed the rejection message
in English to them. They seemed to not like it, but what can they do? They had to submit and accept the bitter reality. ;)

The shooting took more than 2 hours, during which my companion asked me if we can leave, but I thought it would be better to stay so that we deprive them any chance of utilizing our table! The gorgeous babes were gradually roasted by the coarse sun, as they were wearing more and more revealing clothes. It's not our problem, is it?

In the end, the shooting ended and they left the place. So did we!

As I said, my one-day stay in Turkey was not enough. We left Turkey after multiple showers to take the humidity off, and we headed to our final destination.

(Trip dated: July 30th, 2004)