Home at Last! (Kind of. In a Wales sort of way.)

Well, Istanbul was amazing. Photos to come soon!

I spent the first few days sweating like a pig in the heat, and seeing some amazing palaces. The Sultans really had it going for them. There were lots of cushion covers that were covered in emeralds, rubies and lots of gold. Absolutely ridiculous. There were also a few giant diamonds on display. One was not all that smaller than the size of my hand.

Saw some religious artifacts too that made me wonder if they were real, but if they are that is super cool. There were pieces of the Prophet Mohammed!

I had some of the best food of my life in Turkey. Sooooo good. The last half of the trip was spent at the house as everyone was at work/school and I was sick. So that worked out quite well.

I had a decent flight to London, met a really cool Italian girl on the train, and made it safe and sound to Swansea where my uncle and my cousin met me.

We drove to their town and as soon as I stepped into the door, I was hit with memories. I had not realized that their house smelled a certain way, but as soon I walked into the entrance hallway I thought "Oh! I remember this smell!"

The older of my two cousins, H, has gotten so tall since my last visit. He is now about 2 inches taller than me! His younger brother, R, has not grown much but has grown up a bit.

Its so nice to be back. I have missed Wales and it felt a bit like coming home when I walked up the front drive.

Nothing too exciting has happened yet; mostly just family stuff and some walks. But that has been just fine with me. I have gotten a bit tired out of constant travel, travel, travel.