Billion Dollar Bay-Day

Last night my tour of Turkey came to an end. Throughout the trip, the American traveler and I spent much more time together, simply because had we not joined forces, the seniors most definitely would have eaten our brains. As the days went on, we became very fond of one particular elderly couple, who eventually adopted us as their "vacation children", and we promptly became a temporary family for the rest of our journey. This incredibly wealthy couple, NYC socialites, who hit it big in the Property Development industry in the States, were pretty much the most fantastic vacation parents. We spent every day together, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and exchanged sweet nothings as we toured the sites of Turkey. It was a normal occurrence for us to be sitting on the bus, and 'ma and 'pa would holler over to us: "Look Kids! Did you see that!" This scenario was pretty much impossible to beat. They invited us along to help them pick out lavish Turkish rugs, and emeralds and diamonds as "souvenirs" for their real children. Last night, the final night of our tour, they invited us to accompany them on a "farewell evening" an offer which we knew would be impossible to refuse. The glorious day began with a sea cruise of the Bosphorus Bay, and immediately after they whisked us up to our hotel roof top lounge for martini's. It had panoramic views of Istanbul, and the Bosphorous waterway. Our chatterboxing was momentarily muffled by the arrival of a guest via the heli-pad. Afterwards they insisted we head to the Four Seasons for a poolside dinner and "walk of the grounds." They told my vacation Sister and I that since their children refused to travel with them anymore, that they wanted to have a special evening with us. This couple was so fantastic, that at one point, they insisted to our server that the pianist must "quiet down" as he was making it difficult to enjoy the meal. The only downside of the evening, was when 'ma and 'pa told Cee, my vacation partner in crime, that they would look into finding her a publisher for her "allegedly fantastic" personal blog. I regretfully kept my mouth shut about how envious I was, yet lost my opportunity to sell my stories to the world.

We said our goodbyes and thus ended our final night in Istanbul, and I must say it was unforgettable. My original plans of holing myself up in the hotel with room service, Fanta, and the BBC were most definitely eclipsed by this luxurious night out on the town.

B