Istanbul, Turkey

Hello! This girl is back from her travels and so excited to tell you about visiting Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Let the pictures begin! 

Obviously Turkey has a lot of Turkish delight! It reminds me of the White Witch on The Lion, the 

witch, and the Wardrobe. Remember when all Edmund wants to eat is Turkish Delight? I loved that it was in every dessert shop, as was Baklava and anything pistachio flavored. 

One of said yummy dessert shops.

The Blue Mosque is absolutely breathtaking. Everyday a prayer is played throughout the whole city, starting at five in the morning and heard every hour until well into the evening.

Inside the Blue Mosque. The ceiling detail and artwork is beautiful! 

My cute friend Malissa and I inside the Blue Mosque courtyard. 

The Hagia Sophia dome. 

Inside the Basilica Cistern. This is an underground system that used to bring water to the city. 

There's fish in there now. Maybe not the best drinking water currently, but still amazing. 

These statues of Medusa were placed in the underground Cistern during the Roman period. The weird part? No one knows why the statue heads were put in upside down and sideways (pictured below). It's a mystery, which of course just makes it so intriguing. I'm so going to write a story about this someday. 

Why is it sideways?! 

Topkapi, a Turkish palace. Learning the history of the royal family is so interesting. Did you know that brothers would battle to become king? They would either win the sword fight and secure their place as king, or die battling. 

Toblerone McFlurry and a cute stray cat. Unfortunately there were so many stray dogs and cats throughout the city, it was painful to see. 

Pomegranate juice stand.

No big. Just balancing a huge tray of bread on his head with no hands. 

The Grand Bazaar was bigger than I ever could have imagined. Honestly, we got lost, but ended up seeing a lot of beautiful lights, lamps, and wood carvings. 

One of the coolest things about Istanbul is that it's the only major city to straddle two continents. We spent most of our time on the European side, however this evening we were on the Asian side. We took a ferry over there to enjoy the freezing, but incredible sunset. 

Stay tuned for adventures in Petra, Jordan!