We just finished our late fall vacation, Kurban Bayram. The name literarily means "slaughter holiday", and it is kind of the Muslim Thanksgiving. A lot of people travel over the holidays, but we had planned to stay in Istanbul and get to know new parts of the city.
We discovered a new indoor playground called Babalu (www.babalu.com.tr), and it was play-heaven for a 10-year old. A lot of kids' activities in Istanbul are geared towards younger children, but here M. found good trampolines and climbing mazes that he loved.
One of the days we drove across the bridge to Asia, and explored the shores of the Sea of Marmara. Here for miles and miles there are beautiful walkways, parks and bike paths with a breathtaking view. Unfortunately it turned out to be difficult to find bikes for rent, but we had a lovely stroll.
Ice exhibition (www.magicice.com.tr):
Sorry Norway, but this was a little disappointing. It is not right to say that the ice carvings were melting, because it was cold enough in there, but I guess they were evaporating. The Vikings in the exhibition had very small heads and funny shaped limbs, but who knows, maybe they did look like that back in the day. I was looking forward to take pictures in the magic light of the 'ice castle', but it wasn't allowed. I hid the camera in my mitten and stole a few glances. The exhibition ended with an ice bar furnished by IKEA...
Hamsterball:
I could describe this, but I think the pictures says it all.
