TURKEY UPDATE: LAND OF GIANT-ASS FLAGS

Say what you will about the Turks, they have a cool looking flag, and they're not afraid to show it. During our stay in Istanbul, we were in town for National Sovereignty and Children's Day. Honestly, I don't quite know what the connection is between children and sovereignty. To be honest, I feel like Julie and I have lost a great deal of sovereignty since having children, but we were not consulted before Turkey began naming their holidays. We also weren't consulted before they created this vaguely Soviet looking poster advertising the April 23rd holiday.

And while National Sovereignty and Children's Day is meant to honor the opening of the Turkish National Assembly, it might be better called "Giant-Ass Flag Day." Because, when the Turks have a holiday, they get out some giant-ass flags.Some will spruce up the giant-ass display with an Ataturk picture.Indeed, even the television stations feature a waving Turkish flag during their programming on the holiday. Some also include an Ataturk photo. The fanciest one actually had Ataturk's image waving on a separate flag. Very impressive. Also impressive are the number of buildings they can put giant-ass flags on.But some take the art to a whole new level...This was the flag hanging from a mall close to where we were staying. And that's not even the biggest one. There were several 40 story buildings that had flags that easily covered 20 floors. Alas, I didn't have my camera around when we drove past those.

Even more impressive: on April 24th, all the flags were gone.