Istanbul's been on the list since I moved to London - I can't believe it took me 2 and a half years to make it there! It was absolutely and completely incredible!! Straight to the pics... there are millions.
We dumped off our luggage and went straight for the Blue Mosque (literally a 3 minute walk from our hotel). It is just the coolest looking thing!!
This is from the inside of the back courtyard
Waiting to get in...
You have to cover your head to be allowed in... good thing it was cold and we had scarves on that could double as headdresses!
Mosque art is soooo different than church art you see in Europe. No people are allowed to be depicted so it's basically just a bunch of patterns and arabic names for Allah written everywhere.
You had to take shoes off too!! Kind of weird to be in a massive tourist sight with thousands of other people all barefoot!
Dinner at Albura... we loved this place (as you'll see later).
We were both exhausted from a really busy and stressful few weeks at work, so we decided to spend the night relaxing in our hotel watching movies.
Ordering room service for dessert in between movies... The hotel had these Turkish robes in the bathroom - we wore them nonstop haha.
Mid morning, we stopped for a coffee break. Leah's Turkish friends/shop-owners got us our coffee and wouldn't let us pay! Such warm hospitality!
Our Turkish coffee. (It was pretty disgusting to be honest, but still a cool thing to try.)
OMG the lanterns. I could NOT get enough of these!!! I obviously bought one - the white one in this picture kind of to the right of center. It's phenomenal.
Yes I had to have picture with us in front of them.
The colors everywhere are ridiculous. This was one of the rug/fabric stalls.
After we were done shopping, Leah took us down these really random alleys and up these really random flights of stairs... until we came upon this really random door...
Which led us to the roof of the Grand Bazaar with this amazing view of Istanbul and the Bosphorous Strait!!!
Leah was giving me and Hannah instructions on how to pose for an amazing air shot...
There were street stalls making fresh orange and pomegranate juice - DELISH.
We came across another random mosque as we meandered about - there are seriously mosques everywhere!
I caught this guy in the middle of his afternoon prayer. Maybe my favorite pic of the whole trip.
After the little mosque fly-by, we went to the spice market where we bought turkish delights and some chocolate/nut things.
It was so. packed. I was not amused.
Walking back to the hotel after our long day out - came across the Hagia Sophia - it's a mosque from 450AD. SO OLD!
Night shot of the Blue Mosque - all lit up and gorgeous!
We managed to find the only Christian church in Istanbul - it met in the Dutch embassy. Upon arrival, Hannah's not too sure about the fact we have to go through security to get in.
Inside waiting for church to start!
After church, we walked around Taksim - the "East London of Istanbul". Based on that, you can all guess how I felt about that.
The Galata Tower.
It was so hot, we decided to hop on the ferry and spend the afternoon on the Asia side of Istanbul!
It took absolutely FOREVER to figure out where we were going as people kept giving us wrong directions. We were so hot and miserable and completely out of it by the time we sat down for lunch. Hannah's happy for some food!
I'm just in shock to finally be sitting down with a cold beverage.
Dinner that night - we went back to Albura. Such a good night just hanging out, eating amazing turkish food, smelling the water pipes from everyone around us, and chatting to Mahmet the owner (who turns out is like best friends with our tour guide Leah!).
Inside the very extensive grounds!
The inside was super cool. Yes I did listen to the audio guide (all 77 audio snippets). But no, I still don't quite have an appreciation for the historical significance of this place. Except a sultan lived there once. And he had a massive harem.
This was the harem from the outside (all of those domes are so picturesque from the inside)!!!
Again, such a different kind of art.
And one last parting shot from the inside of one of the domes of the harem. BEAUTIFUL!
Ohhhh Istanbul. We had SUCH an incredible time - I didn't get my fill so I will absolutely be back. Soon!
We dumped off our luggage and went straight for the Blue Mosque (literally a 3 minute walk from our hotel). It is just the coolest looking thing!!
This is one of only 2 mosques in the whole world that have 6 minarets (the Rapunzel looking towers used for the call to prayer) - the only other one is in Saudi Arabia. (You can't see the 5th and 6th ones from this pic... but they're there!)
This is from the inside of the back courtyard
Waiting to get in...
Inside - so cool. See the row of men praying?
Looking up at one of the ceiling domes - beautiful.
It's just so massive inside!
We were both exhausted from a really busy and stressful few weeks at work, so we decided to spend the night relaxing in our hotel watching movies.
Ordering room service for dessert in between movies... The hotel had these Turkish robes in the bathroom - we wore them nonstop haha.
The next morning we headed out to the Grand Bazaar and surrounding areas with Leah, our tour guide for the day (old family friend of Hannah's who's been in Istanbul for 14 years now). First stop was a cemetery - how bizarre are these tombstones?!?!
Hannah at (one of the many) entrances to the Grand Bazaar!!
Oh it was just so amazing inside - sensory overload!!!
Loving it.
Leah helping Hannah negotiate with the shop owners (most of whom she knew personally so we definitely weren't getting ripped off)!
Our Turkish coffee. (It was pretty disgusting to be honest, but still a cool thing to try.)
With Leah!
Some of our many attempts.
And the money shot (well, for one of us)!
There were street stalls making fresh orange and pomegranate juice - DELISH.
We came across another random mosque as we meandered about - there are seriously mosques everywhere!
I caught this guy in the middle of his afternoon prayer. Maybe my favorite pic of the whole trip.
After the little mosque fly-by, we went to the spice market where we bought turkish delights and some chocolate/nut things.
It was so. packed. I was not amused.
We walked out of the spice market to this call to prayer. I just had to take a video!!
The next morning was Easter!! It was a beautiful and sunny day - we had lovely outside breakfast at our hotel.
View at breakfast - how pretty are the grounds of the hotel?!
Yep. An Easter morning I won't soon forget.
Back on the Europe side. I think this picture is cool - the old and new Istanbul side by side.
Back near the hotel - the sun came out and the Blue Mosque was beautiful - kept making me think I was in a Star Wars movie though!
Apple tea for dessert. Heaven.
Our last day - we hit up Topkapi Palace.
The colors and patterns were so cool!
