ISTANBUL final part

Alright this is the LAST Istanbul post and it is bitter sweet... Here are just a few pictures at random

One of the most famous things to see is the Blue Mosque, it is pretty awesome inside...

The Blue Mosque from the water....it is so massive!

US :)

This was the street where our hostel was....I just loved it, cobblestones and all

some food on the go....how neat is the boat restaurant....they just made fish sandwiches and then sold them to the people on the dock

the next few are some rainy day pics....oh how I LOVE rainy days

Trolley in town and steamed milk by the water...

This Mosque is right across from the Blue Mosque...they are like sisters....this one is the Hagia Sophia its a Muslim Mosque that was converted into a Catholic Church and then into a museum...

At night on the Bosphorus

....the beautiful skyline of Istanbul!

OH and did I tell you we got to celebrate Halloween there? We stayed with an American Family and they set up a good ole American trick or treat with a BUNCH of other families!
Me and Austin stayed behind and passed out candy....dont you just love our costumes ha ha we raided their kids' dress up box....notice Austins peg leg and parrot (hand made by me) and my sweet Napoleon dynamite hair and 80's tennis outfit? pretty snazzy!



All I have to say is that we LOVED Istanbul, it was unbelievable! Thanks to the food, the Markets, our new Friends( the most fantastic family) , the People, the sites and just every single memory. I miss it all! I will most definitely go back one day!!

ISTANBUL part three

Things that made me laugh ....

ha ha this sign was so funny...

okay I have to say this was one of my favorites...this is the Turkish tow truck, it is pretty much the most amazing invention! This is how it works....it pulls up besides the car...these little fork lifts come out it picks it up and then puts it on the platform...and it is gone in 5 min haha people dont even know what hit them!

Now im not sure why but Turkish cabbages are like the size of watermelons, its ridiculous. I bought one for dinner one night and used about an 8th of it and it fed a family of 5!

This was just scary.... the suicide lane, its just a big free for all

ha ha "NO TRUMPETING" this one is for you JoAnne! These were all over the place....funny looking horn...guess they dont like honking :)

ISTANBUL part two

I would have to say one of my favorite sites I saw in Istanbul was the Basilica Cistern....
its all underground and there are hundreds of columns rising up from pools of water...They have red lights illuminating each column and it is absolutely beautiful and so amazing that something like this was built underground and so long ago....it was unreal!!

so beautiful!

Austin looking creepy

Okay so this was our National Treasure moment....So there are these two columns in the Basilica that have Medusas head at the bottom of them. They are the only two columns like that out of the hundreds...one of the heads is straight and the other one is tilted on its side...No one knows why and they are facing these strange ways. Researchers have said it is only for the sole purpose of being bases to these columns but their opinions are not enough and still people wonder to this day....
SO after some thought and consideration on our part we have come to the conclusion that it is part of a map describing a code, and that the Medusa heads are leading us to a secret passage way that will unlock a hidden Turkish treasure....ha ha so THERE... we have unlocked the hidden mystery of thousands of years in our short tour...but needless to say we did not follow through and continue our destined path of uncovering treasure and went to see the rest of Istanbul...we will leave it for someone else :)

The mysterious heads....

Okay and also.... look at THIS column... this was the ONLY column that had this design on it...WHY? we are not sure we didnt come up with a theory on this one...but it is very I..n..t..e..r..e..s...t..i..n..g.........if you have any theories please share!

ha ha so there it is our adventure underground! And it was my favorite!! If you ever go to Istanbul (which I would highly recommend) you must visit this place it is totally magical

more of Istanbul to come....

ISTANBUL part one

I seriously LOVE Turkey! We lived in Istanbul for about a month with the most AMAZING family....we got to see and experience so much while we were there it was so much fun :)

The people, the beauty, the food, and all of the experiences have been some of my favorite memories so far....It is just such a spectacular country


so (I am a little behind...but) here are pieces of Istanbul...hope they help you to love it too!

This is one of my favorite pictures...this was at sunset and me and Austin were walking home, we stopped on this hill to look at the view and it was so amazing...

First and most Importantly....THE FOOD!

wow the food was unreal....seriously unreal!
(this was me and Austins favorite meal ever)

this was apple tea...so yummy its like drinking an Apple Jolly Rancher....and Baklava the most delicious treat


more delicious things we ate...

yum. Turkish Pizza!

Next....are the fantastic Markets....So much to see AND buy :)
There is the Spice Market...and then the Grand Bazaar, I loved them both

Austin feeling right at home with a bunch of other fruits ha ha...(that was for you Dirk)

I bought a bunch of these bowls....I just couldn't resist they were so neat

this guy is selling Simits...they are really really tasty, and they sell them EVERYWHERE


Another pic I love :)

More of Istanbul to come....

Turkey part 3

Ephesus!!

Its an ancient Roman and Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, it is absolutely amazing, and the coolest thing is you can touch and crawl in and out of everything I loved it! And to think that Apostle Paul preached all over this city, it made it so special!

One of my favorite parts of the whole city was the Library of Celsus, it was incredible!!

there was so much detail, it was beautiful!

little fact: It used to hold about 12,000 scrolls....so neat!


this was on the wall inside the library...it looked so cool!

just some more sites, I loved all of the columns

So while we were walking around and exploring we found this building that we had to crawl to, we got even more curious and ended up hoisting ourselves up onto these barred window sills....behind the bars were all of these tombs, or tomb stones, it was amazing!! Definitely something that was NOT on the tour.

So another one of my favorite parts of Ephesus was the Theater, It was HUGE and so amazing. Austin even did a little ballet performance there (secret footage in the video)

little fact: Used to seat around 44,000

Ephesus was fascinating and such a fun way to end our week tour along the coast of Turkey!!