Istanbul, Turkey

Turkey! Seriously one of the coolest places I've ever been to.

(Hagia Sofia)

The mosques here are just spectacular. The bazaars are a bit bizarre, but really fun and busy. The people here are super nice (it isn't weird for someone you just met on the streets to invite you home for lunch or dinner) and there are so many sights to see, people to meet, and stray dogs and cats to pet...if you dare. I didn't really.

Turkey has the Turkish Lira, which is really quite a pretty word. Lira is totally something I'd name a potential future daughter. I could tell her that she's so valuable to me, I named her for money, except one lira is about 30 cents here... so perhaps 1000000000 lira would be a better name... hahaha.

(Probably a million dollars worth
of handwoven carpets.)

 We also got to stop by a carpet warehouse where they got us cold refreshing drinks and tried to sell us carpets. I asked about one that was 8.5 inches by 11 inches (the size of a standard sheet of paper in the US) and was told that it cost $725 (a bargain!!!) and was the result of a month and a half of work by a master carpet maker, and that it contained over 200,000 knots.

A little out of my price range, but definitely very pretty. The carpets were super intricate, and looked like a pain in the behind to make. What astounded me was the sheer quantity of carpets in the warehouse... years and years of hard work.

Just pure craziness, I tell you... hahaha.

We also visited the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, the Spice Bazaar, the Grand Cistern, and tons of other really neat places.

At the Spice Bazaar, we learned how to tell real saffron from fake saffron (real saffron in cold water turns urine yellow. Fake saffron turns barely yellow... sorry for the mental image!) There were bins of dried fruits, which were gorgeous because of all the colors!

(Dried fruit!)

We brought home some turkish delight, some tea, and a few trinkets. Turkey is just so so beautiful, and impossible not to love.

Another thing Turkey is known for are their turkish towels. They're expensive here in the US but super cheap in Turkey - anywhere from 5 lira (~$1.50) to 15 lira (~$5.00). I purchased two, and they're my new favorite thing!

(Blue Mosque lights)

When we were there, there was some sort of celebration and thousands of people were gathered in the area between and around Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, spending time with family and feasting after a fast. Lights were playing on the Blue Mosque and boy, was it gorgeous... I loved every moment of it.

Unfortunately, a couple days after we left, tensions started rising in Turkey, and I'm sure we've all heard the news (and more news... :( ). Prayers to Turkey - although I'm grateful that we got out of there in the nick of time... I'm devastated for those that didn't make it, or/and are still stuck in Turkey, terrified for their lives. It's really truly awful.