The morning we arrived in Turkey, Em and I woke up at 6 am to watch us come into port. On the way into this port was amazing. We had great views of the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. We were soo excited to get off the ship to see everything. I went on a city tour of Istanbul the first day. We saw and went inside the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the Cistern, and went to the Hippodrome. 
I was amazed by all of these places. It was super cool to be in a Muslim country and hear the call to prayer, and be inside a mosque. I thought the Hagia Sophia was interesting because it was originally a Christian church, which was eventually turned into a mosque. There is evidence of both religions still inside. 
That night, we decided to go to Taksim Square, which we were told had great nightlife. We ended up at a Turkish pub first, with live music. We had a great time, and then headed to a hookah bar. These hookahs were soo good. 
We went to a couple more places, and then finally ended up back at the ship, at who knows what time. Emily and I had a tour of the palaces of Istanbul the next day and were supposed to be up early. To say the least, it was a rough morning. But, we didn’t care because that first night in Turkey was one of the best nights of the entire summer. The first palace we saw was the Dolmabache palace, which was really cool to see all the oriental decoration inside.
It was raining right when we got off the bus to walk to the palace, but luckily I had some ponchos in my backpack. We were told on the ship to wear as little United States paraphernalia as possible. These weren’t just any ponchos…they were burnt orange with longhorns all over them. We wore them proudly, but looked ridiculous. 
We also saw where the harem lived, also super interesting. The next place we stopped, Emily and I were in the bathroom and apparently our tour group left us. So we decided to get a cab and go back to the ship and take a nap. The third day, we went to the Grand Bazaar. It was AMAZING.
We were there for about 4 hours but it felt like 20 minutes. We found so many beautiful scarves, tapestries, and jewelry. I’m obsessed with the Grand Bazaar. 
We had lots of apple tea in different shops, and met prospective baby daddys (according to the Turkish men who apparently loved me) 
Of course, me and Emily ran away at this point. That night we went to dinner with some of our friends to a really cool restaurant. We sat on the floor, and I had some delicious lamb and rice. We had some more hookah then returned to the ship. The following day we saw more of Istanbul. We took a cruise through the Bosphorus. Istanbul is the only city in the world situated on two continents. While on our cruise, we had the Asian side to our right and the European side to our left. That night Amanda, Angela, Halle, Mackenzie, Emily, and myself went to dinner at this super cute restaurant in the old town that our friend Caroline had told us about. It was amazing, and my mouth waters just thinking about the food we ate. 
We went back to Taksim afterwards and wandered around before returning to the ship. The last day in Turkey, we went in search of wifi. We ended up at a starbucks in Taksim square and hung out there for while before getting lunch and heading back to the ship. We never made it to a Turkish bath, which I am soo sad about. Everyone who went to one loved it. I guess I’ll just have to go back :) 
I was amazed by all of these places. It was super cool to be in a Muslim country and hear the call to prayer, and be inside a mosque. I thought the Hagia Sophia was interesting because it was originally a Christian church, which was eventually turned into a mosque. There is evidence of both religions still inside. 
That night, we decided to go to Taksim Square, which we were told had great nightlife. We ended up at a Turkish pub first, with live music. We had a great time, and then headed to a hookah bar. These hookahs were soo good. 
We went to a couple more places, and then finally ended up back at the ship, at who knows what time. Emily and I had a tour of the palaces of Istanbul the next day and were supposed to be up early. To say the least, it was a rough morning. But, we didn’t care because that first night in Turkey was one of the best nights of the entire summer. The first palace we saw was the Dolmabache palace, which was really cool to see all the oriental decoration inside.
It was raining right when we got off the bus to walk to the palace, but luckily I had some ponchos in my backpack. We were told on the ship to wear as little United States paraphernalia as possible. These weren’t just any ponchos…they were burnt orange with longhorns all over them. We wore them proudly, but looked ridiculous. 
We also saw where the harem lived, also super interesting. The next place we stopped, Emily and I were in the bathroom and apparently our tour group left us. So we decided to get a cab and go back to the ship and take a nap. The third day, we went to the Grand Bazaar. It was AMAZING.
We were there for about 4 hours but it felt like 20 minutes. We found so many beautiful scarves, tapestries, and jewelry. I’m obsessed with the Grand Bazaar. 
We had lots of apple tea in different shops, and met prospective baby daddys (according to the Turkish men who apparently loved me) 
Of course, me and Emily ran away at this point. That night we went to dinner with some of our friends to a really cool restaurant. We sat on the floor, and I had some delicious lamb and rice. We had some more hookah then returned to the ship. The following day we saw more of Istanbul. We took a cruise through the Bosphorus. Istanbul is the only city in the world situated on two continents. While on our cruise, we had the Asian side to our right and the European side to our left. That night Amanda, Angela, Halle, Mackenzie, Emily, and myself went to dinner at this super cute restaurant in the old town that our friend Caroline had told us about. It was amazing, and my mouth waters just thinking about the food we ate. 
We went back to Taksim afterwards and wandered around before returning to the ship. The last day in Turkey, we went in search of wifi. We ended up at a starbucks in Taksim square and hung out there for while before getting lunch and heading back to the ship. We never made it to a Turkish bath, which I am soo sad about. Everyone who went to one loved it. I guess I’ll just have to go back :) 
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