Falling for Turkey

Turkey 2

We ate breakfast on the roof-top in the freezing cold Turkey weather. OH. MY. GOODNESS!!!

Me and MJ

I

LOVE

TURKEY!!!!!

But seriously. I am definitely coming ehre again. This place is the best! I love fall! All day it was freezing and full of fall. Such a beautiful day!

We went to Topkapi Palace where the Sultan lived. I fell asleep in the sunshine looking over the Bosporus Strait all bundled in my jackets and scarf with my back up against one of his palaces. No big deal. Every tourist took some pictures though. Crazy Americans. Such a good nap though!

We saw his 86 carat diamond. After that baby my future husband’s got a lot to dish up…that thing was incredible! Everything here is so gaudy and detailed. It really makes you think about treasures here on Earth vs. treasures in heaven. Do I want to satisfy myself now and have these lavish things that won’t mean a thing when I die, or do I want to wait for blessings and treasures that will last all through eternity? Just a little food for thought.

Then we went to the Hippodrome where they had horse races. Oh my goodness. IT WAS GORGEOUS! Fall trees everywhere with crisp air. I could not be happier! Jackets and scarves. I love fall. I love how beautiful this city is in fall. I’m so in love.

Hippodrome

Me and Angie

Then we went to the Blue Mosque which is an active Muslim Mosque today. It has 6 minarets like Mecca so they had to build 1 more at mecca so this one didn’t show it up. It was huge with cascading domes! One of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. We went in and had to take off our shoes and wear scarves over our heads. It was even more gorgeous inside. It makes me excited to see the inside of our temple!

The Blue Mosque

Julie and I

Me, Becca and MJ

Me, Michael and Joey with a beautiful photobomb by Alex

Angie and I

Then we went to another delicious lunch and then off to the Basilica Cistern. It’s huge and has fish in it with 2 random Medussa heads.

Massive Cistern

After that we went to the Grand Bazaar to go SHOPPING!!!! WOO WOO!! We only had an hour so it was a mad dash. I have decided that Julie and I would make a great Amazing Race team. We dominated that place. Everyone here calls us Spice Girls and yells “I have it”. How do they know what I’m looking for?

Up next was a private boat ride on the Bosporus Strait. Goodness it was cold with that perfect fall air, but it was breath taking! I love our group of people we have here. You can talk with everyone and we always have a great time! I just made circles all around the boat trying to see as much as I could and talk to everyone I could. We saw dolphins jumping alongside our boat and watched the sunset over the Hagia Sophia and all of Istanbul. Gosh I’m in love with this place. It’s so beautiful. I even ended the boat trip with a memorable bathroom experience. There’s a masterful pooem brewing! We ended the day with another 7 course dinner and went to bed from pure exhaustion and happiness! 

See the dolphins?

This is Joey. I love to bug and annoy him

Me, Nichel, Becca