November 1, 2009

Our Trip to Istanbul: Part One

One year ago today, Greg and I were married surrounded by family and friends. We decided to celebrate our anniversary with a trip to Istanbul and it was a beautiful vacation. Greg and I will be posting more detailed account of our travels in the next week or so, but here's a quick overview of what we did.
  • The first night we arrived and toured the Blue Mosque and then stopped off for our first cup of tea and game of backgammon at a streetside cafe.

  • On the second day, we went to the Aya Sofya and the Basilica Cisterns. After a quick rest, we headed to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts. We also visited the Grand Bazaar that afternoon.

  • On Thursday, we visited the Topkapi Palace and walked through the Harem and the palace's insane treasury containing jewels and bejeweled treasures alike that make today's rich and famous look like common peasants. After that, we headed over to the Spice Bazaar, which looked to be closed (probably due to Turkish Republic Day) and over the Galata Bridge to Beyoglu, the modern side. We did get excellent turkish delight on Thursday as well.

  • We took at ferry down the Bosphorous strait on Friday and climbed up to see the Black Sea from a castle's ruins. That night, we had a great dinner at a small hole-in-the-wall place with a charming owner.

  • On our last day, it rained. And a lot of it. With wind included. We found our way to the Kariye Musezi museum of religious mosaics and then basically went to the airport.

All in all, it was a great vacation and we'll tell you more about it later. Right now, my bed awaits. I've left you with a picture taken our first night of the Blue Mosque. Good night!

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