So, here I am with time to kill in Florence and I can finally dedicate the time to blog about the most amazing trip I have taken thus far... that is to Istanbul. Before actually going to Turkey, I didn't realize just how far away it is from everything else. Tayler and I decided to go, semi on a whim. All of our friends were going to go to Cairo that weekend, and when we looked into buying tickets of our own, the cost had skyrocketed to 500 US dollars... so no Thank you... and thankfully we didn't end up biting the bullet and buying them since Egypt soon went into civil unrest and our friends had to part with the idea of going to the pyramids and riding camels. So, with no Cairo, we just looked at each other and said lets go to Istanbul. We both really wanted to go and heard it was quite possibly the best city in Europe.... so there we were on our way to Turkey.... Like I said, Turkey is realllly far away. We had to take a plane to Munich and from there a plane to Istanbul, which was 2 and a half hours alone. We had to sprint from our first plane, through customs, and onto our next plane which was a bit stressful, but we made it and were on a brand-spanking new, beautiful Lufthansa plane. They even had good airplane dinner and gave us a whole Toblerone, and they didn't try to sell us a bunch of crap.. listen up Ryan Air! But, we made it to Istanbul in one piece, but my bag didn't... so I was bagless for the first night and day of Istanbul, but it didn't matter since we were staying in a 5 STAR HOTEL! You read that right... we found a 5 star hotel in the center of old town Istanbul for 30 euro a night.. it was gorgeous and we were even upgraded.. so Tayler and I each had our own king size beds... we were living in style and the trip hadn't even really started!
Real day one started with an amazing continental breakfast.. yum! We then headed out to the much heard about Grand Bazaar, and boy did it live up to its billing! It is a giant, covered shopping market, which literally goes and goes and goes through little passages. If you want to go back to a store, good luck trying to find it again! They have endless supplies of fake goods (which were the best quality I have evvevvver seen), lights, pillow cases, jerseys, evil eye products, & basically anything else you can think of. We spent two hours wandering around, getting cat called, being called JLO or the Spice Girls or Asians or Angelina Jolie (barf) or sisters, getting invites for tea, and shopping! The barganing is out of control there! I was able to get an amazing Louis Vuitton wallet, which he lit on fire to show me it was real leather, for 11 euro... He originally wanted 75 euro.. so I thought I was successful!
After the Bazaar we headed to the Sultenmat area for lunch. That is the heart of old town Istanbul, so we had lunch on the sidewalk, listening to the call to prayer coming from the Blue Mosque. Istanbul was the first time I had actually felt culture shock, since I was actually in the complete minority. I have never been to a Muslim country and it was an amazing experience. Since 9/11, I feel like we have such a skewed opinion about that religion. Being there was a unique oppurtunity to immerse myself in their culture, which is so much unlike my own. After lunch we started the immersion. we headed over to the blue mosque.. which in order to enter, you have to have your head covered and your legs completely covered. I was wearing a completely acceptable outfit, or what I thought was one. Since my luggage was lost, I had on what I was wearing on the plane, which was quite a bit of clothing. I had on a white shirt, a black sweater, a burberry scarf, a high waisted grey skirt (which hit my knees), black leggings, and black boots. Basically every part of my body was covered by fabric, but they still made me wrap my lower half with a blue robe.. that was eye opening. The inside of the blue mosque is amazing. It is completely decorited and simply gorgeous. Tayler and I sat in there for nearly an hour, soaking it all in, and reflecting on how this religion has impacted our lives in so many ways, even though we know very little about it. We then went to the Haggia Sofia, which was absolutely my favorite thing I have seen thus far, the mosaics on the wall were from 1200. It was utterly amazing.
We then headed back to our amazing hotel and were greeted with my BAG! So we had to celebrate with a swim and sauna. The bar tender loved us at our swim in bar and were gifted with so much free tea! But really, we must have been Jennifer Aniston in Turkey, since we got more invites for dinner and tea from so many Turkish men.. they obviously rarely see fair skinned, lighter hair women. It was a wierd experience for sure. After our swim we headed back to the Sultenmat for dinner. We found this awesome upper patio restraunt which looked out onto the Blue mosque, which is beautiful all lit up at night! Turkish food is also amazing. Fresh chicken shish kabobs with grilled peppers and fresh vegetables... YUM!
The next day started the same as the day before... breakfast and the Bazaar. After the Bazaar we decided to go to ASIA! You see part of Turkey is in Europe and the other part is in Asia, so we took the .75 cent euro ferry to Asia and had lunch over there... soley to say we've been to more continents! After Asia, we had the crazy experience of going to a Spice Bazaar, which was insane and so busy. It was area after area of every different kind of spice you can think of. The place was packed and there was so much yelling. it was crazy, but also insanely cool. After that insane experience, we had an even more insane one... a Turkish bath. It was probably one of the most mortifying moments of my life... but also one of the coolest. A turkish bath is an experience you have to do once in your life. You lay on a hot marble slab, bottoms on only, and have a 300 pound Turkish woman scrub all of your dead skin off and then wash you. Your exposed for everyone to see, which is so uncomfortable, and you feel like your a child again and your mother is watching you... It was horrible and wonderful... I am so glad I did it bcause I have never felt that clean in my entire life.. but I couldn't wait to put my clothes on again!
We concluded our bath with one last trip to the Bazaar. I ended up spending aout 60 euro there, which was insanely good for all that I got. I got a super cute heart shaped Louis Vuitton coin purse for my best friend at home, a cute Louis wallet for myself and Erin, a huge Long Champps bag, a pair of Ray Bans for Jack, and a beautiful purple glass candle holder. I was pleased with my weekend purchases. We ended the night with a swim, a famous Kabab!, and some time with the water pipe. It was an amazing weekend, that was topped off with a few trips to Starbucks and a Sunday morning sleep in!
Istanbul was by far the coolest and most unique place I have ever been... I wish I had more time to explore... So amazing. xoxoox
Music Guide: "Map of the World" by Jack Savoretti
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