turkey: part one

ok. i just loved turkey so much! it was a really really good week. i loved the places we went and i loved getting to know other kids better. i really am not a fan of travel logs, so i'm going to keep the logging brief! on sunday morning, we flew to istanbul! we actually didn't fly out till the afternoon, but flying with 90 people is a beast, so we got to the airport, like, 6 hours early haha.

we got to istanbul at night and it was so beautiful. my favorite thing about istanbul is definitely the mosques. they are so old and gorgeous. there are 2,000 mosques in turkey! they all look like palaces, too. so you look out your window at night and you can see dozens of  lit up mosques within a mile.

the next day, we spent the day in the city seeing sites. we went to the suleymaniye mosque, which was awesome, followed by the grand bazaar, one of the biggest in the world. we saw turkey's national soccer team there, who had just won a big game the night before, so they marched around the bazaar shouting "ole ole ole ole!" i got a sweet video but can't upload it here :(

we went on a cruise on the bosphorous strait, which is what separates the european continent from the asian continent. i don't even understand why you would have two halves of a city on two different continents, completely separated on all sides by a body of water. this makes no sense to me. but, like, how fun to look to your left and see asia and look to your right and see europe? way cool! 

we went to the palace where all the turkish sultans lived and after, we found some grass to lie down on and take a post-lunch nap! haha. 

we took a beautiful walk at sunset over a bridge that crosses the strait. there were seagulls everywhere! i was in heaven. such a stunning city. actually, you know what is heaven? baklava! i had never tried it. what better way to eat baklava than some baracklava?? 

the next day, we spent a lot of time driving. we spent the whole week on the west coast of turkey and stayed in different hotels every night. so there was a lot of time on the bus. but it's ok. i think it's amazing how creative you become when there is nothing to do on a bus. we had a dance party one day in the aisles of the bus. we also played that game where you get blind folded, have headphones put in your ears, and then a song you don't know is blasted into your ears and you have to jam out to it in a microphone. we played picture telephone and made our professors tell us the stories of how they met their wives. anyway, we took another ferry, but it was one of those ones where the cars and buses just drive right onto the boat and it ferries them to the other side! 

we went to the ancient city of troy before going to our hotel in cannakale. we went to see the sights, and liked them so much that we built a wooden horse to conquer the trojans and take over the city.

after troy, we went to our hotel for the night. it was incredible! it's on the beach with a pier and a swimming pool.

we went swimming, hung out on the pier, and of course...had a bonfire dance party on the beach!!! i had forgotten how much i loved to dance in high school until then. i love dancing! you just forget every care in the world when you're getting your groove on hardcore. it was definitely the most memorable night of the trip. 

ok. please take a look at this guy. i was sitting in the grass and saw it crawling by me and thought it was a snake. you know a centipede is really big when you think it's a snake! 

my internet is being really slow, so i'll post the rest of my turkey pictures soon! i am having so much fun here and i know this is such a blessing in my life. i'm grateful for the people who made this trip possible for me. i cannot believe i'm here.