My personal packmule

In figuring out all of the logistics for our whole medevac adventure, one of the things on the checklist was figuring out to get someone to fly back with me and the boys. Noah was not going to be able to stay the entire length of our trip after the baby was born; and I knew I couldn't handle three boys all by myself on a plane around the world! As luck would have it, the stars aligned and logistics worked out perfectly for one of our awesome friends from our Michigan days to come back with me!! She was thrilled and so were we! She was so amazing, and I definitely could not have made the journey without her help. She knew exactly what I needed and took charge to help me get things done! Being an experienced traveler herself also with little ones she was perfect for the job and knew what to expect. She unfortunately became kind of my personal pack mule, helping me to tote the traveling menagerie through three different airports! What a superstar!! She was so great with the kids too, which was SO helpful. I will forever be in her debt for doing such an awesome job of helping me come home. Thank you again Marlene! You're the best!

Since she did fly halfway around the world, we thought we better show her a few of the fabulous things here in Istanbul. We had a great time, and after such a long journey it was fun to take a few days off to just enjoy having a visitor to show around our lovely adopted city! Among other things we:

We went to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants on the Bosphorus- you can't beat the view here, and the neighborhood is also a local favorite.

She got to see the world famous Hagia Sophia!

We hit the Grand Bazaar, where we got a classic local "rug shopping" experience. She came away from this particular shop with a beautiful wall hanging for her home, and I was pretty impressed with her bartering skills!

She's a big literature fan, so I decided that we needed to hit up the Pera Palace Hotel for some pastries. The Pera Palace Hotel (a future post still in the works to come) has been frequented by many a famous face over the years, including major literary players Agatha Christie and Ernest Hemingway. Plus, they have a fantastic French Patisserie with incredible Eclairs!

The hotel has been masterfully restored in the last couple of years. Here is Marlene in front of the antique elevator (and she got to take a ride)!

Last on the agenda, was to introduce her to one of my new favorite pastimes-

teaching her to be addicted to shopping for scarves! I think this was a success…

between the two of us we bought 10+ over the period of a few days!

Even though we've been great friends for years, we haven't gotten to see nearly enough of each other after we moved to different parts of the country (and then we moved around the world). It was so nice to have not only the extra help, but also some fun quality girl time with an old friend! Next time we get together we will hopefully get to have time with her little family as well, yay for East Coasters! Thanks again Marlene, you were amazing!