istanbul

Jelena and I went to Istanbul, Turkey for a weekend in November. We had a great time and managed to see everything we wanted in a short amount of time.

 

We flew into the airport which is on the Asian side of Istanbul. We were both very excited to be in Asia for the first time. Getting me into the country proved to be slightly more than difficult, but I finally got the necessary visa and met up with Jelena at baggage claim.

 

 

This is a horrible picture of us going across the bridge from Asia to Europe:

 

On Friday night, we had dinner and took went to the Turkish bath at our hotel.

 

The weather was amazing. On Saturday we first walked along the water on our way to the palace.

 

Hagia Sophia (mosque)

 

Topkapi Palace

 

 

Look at the smog in this picture. I've never seen anything like this before.

 

We spent a lot of time at the spice market. Everyone was really nice. We tried and bought some teas to bring home.

 

Jelena and some yummy baklava

 

 

After the spice market we walked through the tiny and packed streets towards the Grand Bazaar.

 

In the Grand Bazaar we shopped for scarves and gold. Shopping at the stores and talking to the people was really fun.

 

After the Grand Bazaar, we went into the New Mosque. We had to take off our shoes and cover our hair in order to enter. It was an interesting experience and the mosque was beautiful inside.

 

We drank some fresh pomegranate juice from one of the many guys making fresh squeezed juice on the street.

Our last stop of the day was the Blue Mosque. We also went inside this mosque.

 

 

On Sunday morning, we left early. I was pleasantly surprised by the Arby's at the airport. This is the first Arby's I've seen in Europe. Curly fries for breakfast? Sure, why not?!

 

 

Istanbul was great. It was much different from the other European cities I've visited which made it so intriguing. Also, the people we met were some of the nicest I've met while traveling which also made our experience so great.