Bryan and I were able to steal away to Istanbul, Turkey last weekend which just happened to coincide with my birthday. Okay, I know what you're thinking....."Wow, last year I was lucky to get cake for my birthday!" Trust me, your thinking is not lost on us, we've had many a simple birthdays, which is probably why this one was so special for me (one hour flight peeps!)
By going we were able to achieve a few things. Most importantly, Bryan and I got to spend a little time together (with Statton), we were able to see one of the most amazing cities ever, and by going out of the country, Bryan will get his drivers license back (which was confiscated in a little fender bender he had last month). I've gotta tell you, Istanbul was INCREDIBLE! Such a full and new experience! Probably at the top of favorite cities we've visited list! Enjoy the pics!
AIRPORT DRAMAHere's the Maywood Hotel we stayed at, downtown in the OLD city near the palaces and all the famous mosques. They treated us like royalty here and the price was really sweet. We were so glad to get to the hotel. We had a pretty dramatic event occur at the airport where for at least 2 hours we ran from one end of the airport to the other, trying to get the right currency so we could buy a Visa....no one would accept our credit cards or debit cards and none of the currency offices would exchange the Romanian money we had gobs and gobs of. We'd maxed out our daily withdrawal amount from the ATM, so in short, the only way we could get money was to buy a stranger's groceries at one of the airport stores with our debit card, he gave us the cash in exchange! Whew! Once through that, our luggage was lost and our free shuttle was gone because it had taken us so long. We still didn't have Turkish money for a taxi and almost got swindled by some strange shuttle service in the airport??? UGH! My blood pressure is rising just reliving this event, although at the time I felt a great calm that everything would be okay in the end. There was a point there that we were sure we would have to stay at the airport all night, but THANKFULLY, our hotel got a taxi for us and charged it to our room and everything turned out great. We learned a lot of lessons....mostly, carry many different forms of currency and wipe those goofy American smiles off your faces!
Our room was small, but cozy, plus the location was so great! We were so glad to rest after our airport ordeal, plus I had on some killer heels that day! Our first morning out (only had 1 1/2 days there)... Window of Turkish Delights...you could say we were "delighted" to see what they looked like.
Just around the corner, The Blue Mosque, sits across a courtyard from Hagia Sophia, famous for over 20,000 blue tiles that cover the Mosque.
These are not spires, but called minarets...little architectural lesson Bryan enjoyed!
Inside the Blue Mosque, women had to cover their shoulders, devout Muslims covered their heads. They were just preparing for afternoon prayer which is called out on speakers all around the city. It sounded so beautiful.
This area used to be the old Hippodrome (or arena) When Romans ruled the area. Yes, Bryan is following the guy in yellow. We told him we'd check out his family's shop in return for a quick history lesson on the alleys and shops near the Blue Mosque...here are some pretty shops we passed. This was all stable area for the hippodrome horses and animals.
Notice the blue glass "eye" below. It was seen in everything in Istanbul. It is their motif, and means goodluck to the one wearing it. We brought home lots of things with the "eye" on it.
I don't know how any visitor to Turkey can get away without at least 1 rug presentation, they make it so fun. they offer you drinks and treats, ari-conditioning and a place to rest for a minute. They laid out all these rugs for us and gave us a quick lesson on different styles and weaves of rugs. He said they had one worth $300,000 (of course that's the one I wanted to see!)
This guy had a broom stick with stacked pretzels. Bry thought this was so amazing!
Typical park views, such a melting pot of religions and cultures. People were so incredibly friendly and most spoke great English. Almost everyone had a "brother" who was studying or working in America.
Yummy little honey treat on a stick, he'd twist the different colors
This was lunch....Doner! Basically kebabs with shaved meat. I had the freshly squeezed OJ, yum!
Lisa and Stats for a little stop before hitting the Grand Bizarre. 4,000 shops all interconnected through a series of alleys and buildings. It was indescribably exciting. The sellers are very vocal about getting you to buy from them and will try any tactic to draw you in!
Stats tries on a little fez...he's excited!
This rug shop was featured in National Geographic, which is what this guy used to draw us into his store. True enough, although we didn't buy from him! He was so animated!
Looking for that genie lamp
We picked up some fun things for everyone at the Bizarre, some slippers for the girls, a knife for Ethan, something sparkly and soft and glass for our parents!
Every now and then walking around the city, a wonderful view of one of the mosques would appear at the end of an alley, we couldn't resist taking a quick shot.
Sliced apple!
The Cisterns were Bryan's most favorite, a huge underground water storage for ancient times held up by old collected pillars and such. Water was brought in by aquaduct from Belgrade and stored for use in the Basillicas.
Hard to photograph, or show the immensity of this place. So cool!
Famous column base with the head of Medusa on it in the cisterns. They don't know where it came from, but it's the crowd favorite!
Sidewalk ice cream shop, they have a little mini show as they act like they are throwing and dropping your ice cream on you. When they're done they dip it into crushed pistachios...the favorite nut in Istanbul...everything had pistachios in it.
Outside the Egyptian Spice market... we regret that we didn't get there before closing, but it was so colorful, people everywhere, food galore!
At Hamdii, a restaurant recommended by a local, check out the flat bread. Everything good has lamb in it and they LOVE their kebabs. We tried a drink they all love called Ayran which tastes like cottage cheese milk........ECK!
We tried our best to suck every last drop of adventure out of our 2 day there, which meant, after dinner, we headed to an old old tower on a hill and discovered the fun nightlife there. The party was raging in the streets, little terraced cafes, bright shops, local bands on the streets. We both commented on how safe and clean Istanbul was. Even at night people looked like they were having good clean fun. We caught the subway, then the trolley back to our hotel, rolling into bed around midnight! What a great birthday!
Next morning we hit Topkapi Palace, home of the Sultans. It was literally around the corner from our hotel. This was part of the grounds. Reminded us of a college campus, lots of trees and buildings, plus awesome architecture and history.
There is a special quadrant of Topkapi Palace called the "Harem". Basically, it's where the women and children lived. One sultan had over 1300 concubines and children there...lucky guy!
The concubines were served by Eunuchs (demasculined men). The white ones took care of the kids and the black ones took care of the women. This was their court where they lived and worked.
One example of the awesome tile work in the Harem! They have so much fun with tile in Istanbul!
Welcome to the an official Turkish Bath (hammam) This belonged to the Sultan.
Queen mother's suite with some creepy mannequins! She was the favorite concubine which moved up based on performance, producing heirs, being intelligent, etc.
Inlayed wood in the Sultan's suite (so many fun picts, I wish we could show them all to you)
Looking out toward Asia. Istanbul is the only city on 2 continents. Topkapi Palace was immense. We were there 3-4 hours and didn't come close to seeing everything. Bryan started pushing me through so we could see everything we hadn't before our flight left at 4 pm.
Outside the famous once Christian church, turned Mosque, now Museum Hagia Sophia. We saved the best for last. It's difficult to describe how huge this place is. We were running short on time, but thanks to Statton's cute smile, aimed at the guard, he waved us to the front of the 40 minute line to the ticket booth! Love cute babies!
I had a love affair with these odd little chandeliers that lit Hagia Sophia...I'm imagining that candles once were in these votives...can you imagine having the job of lighting them all?
Bryan loved this scaffolding which reached to the very top of Hagia Sophia, he thought this was almost more amazing that the building! Since the museum has been converted, they are getting rid of the plaster the Muslims put over all the beautiful Christian painting and exposing wonderful things.
We loved this...See the Virgin Mary and Christ Child, it was hidden under plaster....I think it's so interesting to see that in contrast to the Muslim Prayer Circle on the wall beside it. This to me represents everything interesting about Istanbul, a real meshing of beliefs.
Statton was ready to get out of his baby carrier, so we pulled him out and were loving on him.
This gal walking by just couldn't help herself and asked if she could hold him for one minute. He started smacking on her cheek and she was laughing her head off. She was a newly married girl from Behran. Her English, like everyone else's was wonderful.
This was interesting to me, the crosses on this stonework were etched out when the church was turned into a mosque.
Another strange sight was this hole in pillar. People were lined up, they would stick their thumbs in the hole, turn their arms in a full circle than touch them to their foreheads. My friend looked this up for me, it's called the Weeping Column. Legend has it that the pillar is that of St. Gregory the Miracle Worker and that putting one's finger in the hole can lead to ailments being healed if the finger comes out moist.
The rug shop who finally got our sale. It was a special deal, he said not to tell our friends how much we talked him down. As a whole we'd offer half of what they said the price was and go from there. It was a fun game, good stories. I loved that everyone there called me "Lady". Bryan! Your money is showing!!!
Lunch at a sidewalk buffet...everything is so delicious! Our last stop before heading to the airport.
This is the Bosphorous River...it leads either to the Black Sea or the Marmara Sea (which connects to the Mediterranean Sea). Check out all the ships in the harbor! When we flew over the water was completely dotted with lights.
Back at home with our little Turkeys, we missed them so much. Lacey Potter, our friend came and stayed with them all for the weekend and took such great care of them. They ALMOST didn't miss us! :)
Ulyssa models the shoes we got for her and each of the girls!
Imagine how excited the kids were when we opend the box of Turkish Delights!!! They taste like gummy bears with nuts and powdered sugar.
Back at home, Bry picked me up a cake and they all sang to me and gave me little sweet gifts. Ashlee loaded me up on purple jewelry for the year (my favorite color)
Then the traditional biting of cake when the candle is blown out. It was a great, great birthday!
