Is there anything here not swimming in gravy?!

Continuing on my adventures in Turkey...

I forgot to mention the underground basilica cistern that we saw in Istanbul. Possibly one of my favorite sites, because we just stepped off the street, followed some stairs down, and bam! there's a huge, eerily lit underground cavern. Made by the Romans. Oh, and I might also have loved it because it was 100 times cooler down there.

Apparently people bring fish down here
because there were tons of them swimming around.

Our next stop was Troia (Troy). No, Brad Pitt was not there.

I'm not gonna lie, my favorite part was the giant Trojan horse just chillin' outside the entrance to the ruins. I'm pretty sure our group spent more time hanging out in the horse then wandering around the sites. But don't get me wrong, the ruins were amazing, and the surrounding countryside was beautiful. It reminded me of the Italian countryside.

Me and AnnahLeah.

Inside the original Trojan horse :)

We spent the night at a hotel right next to the Aegean Sea. Walking along the beach at sunset was awesome. Then we had a dance party on the beach with a huge bonfire. It was epic. Apparently other people thought so too, because about 8 Turkish men joined in for our last couple of songs. 

Some of our group at the beach.

I loved visiting Assos because the village was not very touristy. We hiked up the winding, cobble stone streets to get to the top of the hill. The site was where Paul went on one of his missions. I loved how our director, Dr. Skinner, reminded us that while it's neat to walk where the apostles walked, it's more important to do what they did, namely living as disciples of Christ.  

View from the top of Assos.

Here's a lovely picture taken while at Pergamon. We got right up to the top and it started pouring rain. Of course, right when we left it was sunny again. But I loved every minute of it. I will never forget those rainy moments because everyone embraced the rain and didn't complain.

Another day we spent at the ancient Greek city of Ephesus. There are extensive ruins there and it was fun to just wander around them. 

AnnahLeah, Me, and Danielle.

Danielle, me, and Kaitlyn at the great library of Celsus.

Here's one of my many creeper shots from Turkey. Classic European men. It's almost like they were posing for me.

Thanks Danielle for "posing for a picture" for me :)

We also got to visit the calcium pools at Pamukkale (Pamukkale means cotton candy in Turkish, which is a very good description of what the site looks like). It also looked like a snowy hillside so it was weird to feel the warm water on my feet.

Danielle and me.

One of our final stops was at the silk market in Bursa. I loved the arched walk ways around the shops. 

Me, Nicole, and Danielle (the seesters).

Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

Just got back from Turkey!

No more fish, mystery meat, and desserts soaked in honey.
No more brushing my teeth with a bottle of water.
No more sketch bathrooms with tiny showers.
No more squatty potties.

YESH.

In other news, Istanbul was brilliant! (the rest of Turkey will come later...)

I had no idea what to expect, but I loved it. The city reminds me partly of a European San Francisco, with windy, steep streets, green landscapes, and the Bosphorus winding through the city, occasionally covered by bridges. Also, Istanbul reminds me of something out of Star Wars, with all the different mosques scattered across the horizon. After dry, hot, and brown Jerusalem, Istanbul's greenness and 60 degree weather was perfect. 

The Blue Mosque.

We only had 2 days in Istanbul, so we were constantly herded from site to site like a bunch of cattle. Our Turkish tour guide Fatih would continually say "hurry up, hobbits!" Not quite sure why he called us that, but he always made me laugh. Other favorite quotes from him: "Attention all Harper bus!" "Hello aliens." "I'm a mountain goat."

On the first day we saw the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace (where the sultans of the Ottoman Empire lived for over 400 years), and the Grand Bazaar (4000 shops + over 60 streets + in-your-face shopkeepers = craziness. *Favorite comment from a shopkeeper: "You are so beautiful, like angels. I will be your Charlie." Wow). We also took a boat ride on the Bosphorus. It was great to sit on the boat after walking around all day and watch the sun set on Istanbul.

Inside the Blue Mosque.

At Topkapi Palace.

The Grand Bazaar.

Boat ride on the Bosphorus.

Sitting on the back of the boat.

The fish I ate at dinner. The eyeball was disgusting.
(AnnaLeah seems pretty excited about the food)

Our second day in Istanbul was equally exciting. We saw Hagia Sophia and walked through another bazaar. 

Inside Hagia Sophia.

The upper deck at Hagia Sophia. 

One of the mosaics. 

Cat sleeping at Hagia Sophia. I felt like joining him.

Enjoying our last Magnum ice cream bar in Turkey.