Istanbul Part Two

More photos from my istanbul trip this past November.

In front of the Blue Mosque (aka Sultan Ahmed Mosque)

An outside view of Hagia Sophia

inside pretty Hagia Sophia

The courtyard between Hagia and The Blue Mosque (which are right next to each other)

morgan and krystal

Me, Morgan, Krystal outside of The Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque. I have never seen anything more ornate and beautiful in my life. 

Looking up inside the Blue Mosque

Shoes were taken off, and heads were covered upon entrance to the Blue Mosque. I love an authentic experience when traveling ;)

Later in the trip Morgan and I stayed on the European side of Istanbul (there is a Europe and an Asian side). Morgan found a cool hotel and booked it for us, and it happened to be a stones throw away from a Shake Shack. We were really surprised when we saw shake shack in Turkey, and weren't ashamed to eat there twice.

Istanbul

After a long flight from SLC to Amsterdam, I switched airlines to Turkish and flew straight to Istanbul. The experience started on that flight, when a tray of Turkish delights was passed around for passengers to partake and the couple next to me spoke no English.

After arriving in Istanbul, I finally got to meet up with Morgan. So far Morgan and I have met up in some incredible locations (Maine, NYC, and Boston to name a few). (Dustin better watch out because Morgan is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite traveling partners ;)

Istanbul is a crazy city with lots of energy. And to be honest, it surprised me how beautiful, clean, and safe it was. Aside from the whole English-speaking thing, it is a very livable city with enormous amounts of culture, history, and tons to do.

Some of the highlights of Istanbul were Hagia Sophia, The Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Grand Bazaar, and The Topkapi Palace to name a few. There really was so much to see and do, I know I won't put a dent in our time there in this one post, but I figure it's better do post something than nothing. So I'll begin with the famous Grand Bazaar.


The Grand Bazaar:

It's enormous, I'm pretty sure we didn't even get to see half of it yet we spent two full afternoons there. Morgan taught me the art of the haggle, and we purchased some beautiful textiles, handmade soaps, jewels, and some turkish towels of course. The Bazaar is worth going to Istanbul alone for. It has a really good selection of stuff and it is all so cheap. Morgan and I both left saying "we should have bought more!" Next time, Morgan.

Other Highlights: