No Christmas tree for me

Ok that is not true but we will not be having a real one in Istanbul. I was informed by my husband that a friend of ours sent his driver around Istanbul and Izmit pricing trees. The going rate for an ok tree was 400TL in Istanbul and about 250 TL in Izmit. I was looking at pretty nice fake trees and they were just under 200TL. We have been getting our real tree in Kansas City from the same family run farm for 4 out of the 5 years. The only year we skipped was when we went back to my parents for 2 weeks. But we never end got to a $100 tree and we had some big trees. I have missed walking thru the cold air with the kids to find that perfect tree. But since we aren't spending Christmas in Istanbul, a fake tree will do. Plus we will have a real one in France. So I guess I get the best of both. Btw... I found Maple syrup today at the Carrefour. 48TL!!! I guess I need to figure out something else to top our pancakes with.