I'M BACK! Excited?! Yeah. You should be. So, to get you even MORE excited about this FINAL Spring Break post is this wonderful song!--->
ISTANBUL
Ahh so, onto the final chapter of my glorious Spring Break trip. Again I apologize for the spaced out time in between posts but the explanation will be coming in a post that will hopefully be put out tomorrow=]
Istanbul was
wonderful. The first night we stayed there it rained...which was unfortunate, but you can't waste time doing nothing when you're travelling around the world! So, we headed to
Galata Tower, then hit up the Grand Bazaar, hung out in a cafe, did some shopping, saw a few mosques (including the
Süleymaniye Mosque!)
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| Galata Tower |
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| Spice Market |
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| Süleymaniye Mosque |
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| Grand Bazaar |
The next day Andrew and I met up with the other gents and hit all the biggest tourist spots. Sadly, because of the rain the day before, everyone else in Istanbul had the same idea. So, while the gents and I went to see
Topkapi Palace, Andrew being the gentlemen he is, offered to go stand in line for our tickets to
Hagia Sophia. Then after getting the chance to cross both of those off our list, we all headed to the
Blue Mosque.
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| View from the Palace |
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| LOVE this ceiling |
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| The boys didn't want their picture taken in here...i'm not sure why.... |
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| A glimpse out one of the windows... |
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| Hagia Sophia! |
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| The Blue Mosque...sorry for the darkness on this one! |
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| Blue Mosque and Tulips |
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BLUE!
Most mosques decorate with green because that was the Prophet's favorite color...but not the Blue Mosque!
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| nothing exciting....i just like the color contrast. beautiful. |
After all that insanity, we got a bit of rest and headed out again the next day to the
Cisterns, ran into an international fair, saw
Constantine's column AND enjoyed an
incredible Turkish Bath.
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| Medusa head column base. |
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| this is right side up. i promise. |
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| AFGHANISTAN at an international fair! yay! love you Jay! |
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| Constantine's Column |
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The Hamam we went to! It's SUPER OLD!
CHECK OUT THE HAMAM! : HERE. |
So, in conclusion, turkey was phenomenal. The Turkish bath was one of the most relaxing experiences of my life (although if you want the full hilarious details, please ask me in person). Hagia Sophia was insane, the Blue Mosque was stunning, and I'm insanely grateful that I had amazing friends to go with and the opportunity to go. I am blessed.=]
