Pita, Doner Kebabs, and Baklava

I just got back from such an incredible weekend. Thursday morning, we headed to the airport for an 11am flight to Istanbul. Right when Turkish Airlines served us a full meal (and quite a good one might I add) of chicken, vegetables, rice, and complimentary wine, I knew I was in for a great trip. Once we got off the plane, we headed straight to the hotel. It was located in a prime spot, right near the major sites and shopping areas (crucial).  Our hotel, the Vezir Hotel, was a small boutique hotel, with green walls, cute interior design, and a small garden where we had breakfast. I had absolutely NO idea how many stray cats there were in Istanbul, but let me tell you, DO NOT go there if you are allergic to cats. Those of you that know me know that I am 100% a dog person, so I was not too stoked to find cats coming up to me at every meal.

me in front of the Blue Mosque

Besides the cats, the food in Istanbul was unreal. I am happy that I am not studying there, because if i were, I'd come back as a completely different human being, one that would not fit into my jeans. We had so many amazing dishes: the first night I got a chicken kebab, which consisted of freshly grilled chicken, vegetables, and some whole grain rice. Oh! How can I forget? Each meal started off with a HUGE piece of freshly made pita bread. We demolished those pitas. Another famous dish in Istanbul is the doner kebab, which are thinly sliced pieces of either chicken or lamb and it comes in a pita or in a sub sandwich. I got a couple of the chicken pita doners... interesting fact: they put french fries INSIDE the pita doners. What a wonderful surprise to bite into. Last but not lease, baklava. What can I say about baklava? Basically, I was never a huge baklava fan before this trip. Granted, I never really had it on a regular basis, but the times I did, I liked it but I wasn't craving it. This baklava was a whole other story. Turkish baklava is so fresh, dripping with honey, chocolate, nuts, and a crisp layer of flakey dough. Basically, it's heaven in your mouth. We all made it a point to try all the different flavors. My personal favorite was the plain one, but a close second was the chocolate baklava.  While the food was unbelievable, I have never witnessed anything as beautiful as the sites we saw in Istanbul. Right after checking into the hotel and putting our bags down, we took a short walk to the Blue Mosque. The first thing you notice about this mosque is the beautifully- arranged cascade of domes. The entire exterior is decorated intricately, with gold linings and detailed engravings. Inside, the mosque is lined with 20,000 blue tiles (hence the name, Blue Mosque) I thought this was the most beautiful sight in Istanbul. From the interior to exterior, everything about the Blue Mosque was so gorgeous!

Jenna and I inside the Aya Sofia.

The next day, we went to the Aya Sofia in the morning. It used to be an orthodox basilica, then a mosque, but it is now a museum. It is said that the Aya Sofia "changed the history of architecture." This is definitely true-- the domes and the interior decor really live up to its expectations. The interior is super tall and from the top, we got a great view of the Blue Mosque and the sea. Overall, it was beautiful and incredible to see how such an old site stayed in tact and so decorative. Later that day, we visited the Topkapi Palace. Crazy enough, this palace was the home to the Ottoman sultans. In addition to the incredible architecture and gardens, we saw swords, daggers, royal clothes, carpets, textiles, ceramics, and armor. We also saw one of the largest diamondsever. It was so beautiful I just wanted to take it out of the case and bring it home! (If it weren't for the security and cameras...) This palace was so big, it took us roughly 2 hours to go through all the rooms! 

Inside the Blue Mosque

After a busy day of touring, we went back to the hotel to rest and clean up for one of the best experiences I've had so far---the turkish baths. Jenna and I signed up for a 15 minute scrub bath and the 30 minute oil massage. This was truly a unique experience: once we walked into the spa where the bath area was, we found everyone laying topless on a huge steaming lounge. When it was my turn to get a bath, the turkish lady (who was also topless, weird...) scrubbed me with soap, and used buckets of water to wash me. She covered me with bubbles and then shampoo'd my hair with this amazing coconut shampoo. It was unlike anything I've ever done, but so incredible. After the bath, we waited for our oil massages which were done on a massage table. It felt so good to relax! After all the girls were done, we had a nice dinner and headed back home for the evening. Nice way to bond with the girl on our program. Saturday we went to the Grand Bazaar, which is known all over the world. There are roughly 4,000 different merchants selling their goodies on this series of covered streets. Anything from gold and silver, carpets, slippers, boots, purses, spices, teas, dried fruits, and much more, can be found here. Unlike shopping in Los Angeles, shopping at the Grand Bazaar was quite a treat. In turkey, they expect you to try and talk them town on the prices... It's kind of like a game for them. Luckily, my mom has taught me very well how to bargain so I think I did pretty well overall. I got a bunch of gifts for family and friends, and a few small things for myself! It was so crazy and eye opening to see the culture at the Grand Bazaar. After Jenna and I did some damage to our bank accounts at the Bazaar, we got to the Port which is by the sea. For those of you that did not know, Istanbul is the only city which is located on two continents, Europe and Asia. For a cheap fare, Jenna and I took a 20 minute boat ride over to... you guessed it, Asia. While it was actually pretty boring and freezing, it was cool to say we've been there!

the view as we were crossing to get to the new area- Taksim

Saturday night we walked about 45 minutes to the newer side of Istanbul. The area was called the Taksim area and it consisted of a 2 mile long street of nice shops, restaurants, bars, and clubs. It was much more lively and modern than the areas we had seen earlier in the weekend. Our group of friends went to one last Turkish meal together and then headed back. It was so cool to see the different areas of Istanbul as we walked to the Taksim... We walked through four areas all together and each was completely different from the next. Today we woke up, did a little bit more souvenir shopping, picked up one last bit of baklava (of course!) and headed back to the hotel to leave for the airport. After a 2 and a half hour flight, we made it back to Prague safely. A new stamp in my passport and a stomach full of baklava and doner later, I am back to my dorm... home sweet home!