Turkey Trip: Day 1 - Istanbul

Well, we have made it back to the U.S after 12 days of vacation... I am so sad that our vacation has ended for many reasons: One obvious reason is that we have to go back to work.  Another reason is that it just means that summer is coming to an end.  I can't believe that fall is approaching.  I don't know where this summer went, put it flew by!  We left Istanbul on Sunday with warm, sunny weather and arrived in Birmingham to cooler temperatures and Tropical Storm Lee!  Monday was such a rainy awful day if you were planning on some beach or pool time.  But, lucky for us we just wanted to relax indoors all day and catch up on some much needed sleep and laundry.  We also got caught up on some major T.V.  We watched football, and I watched the episode of Bachelor Pad that I missed (no judging...admit you love that show too!)  It was nice and relaxing :)

Now, I will start telling the many stories of the adventures we had in Turkey via multiple blogs.  We had such a great time that I could go on forever about everything we did and saw in the 12 days that we were there.

On Thursday, we flew in to Istanbul after 19 hours traveling.  We were so tired and jet lagged that we weren't sure if we were going to be able to do anything that night.  However, once we checked into our hotel, we got some energy and decided to explore the City around our hotel.  First I have to say that our hotel was PERFECT! It was in a perfect location... a block or two away from shopping, restaurants, and night life!  Erol's Uncle Askin hooked us up with his friend who gave us the BEST deal on the room... well, because it was free! 

Here's the few from our hotel's rooftop bar.

Amazing City!!

So, after checking into the hotel, we walked the streets of Istanbul around our hotel.  There was so much to see and do! We were thirsty from the plane ride so we stopped at a local bar to have a local beer called Efes.  It was pretty good with a pretty good price tag as well!

I was on no sleep when this picture was taken...



After our beer, we walked a short ways to a local restaraunt to have some authentic Turkish cuisine.  There are two things that I love in life: cheese and bread.  Well, at every restaraunt in Turkey, they serve you tons of cheeses and bread... delightful!



At dinner, we decided to try the National drink of Turkey, Raki. It is a liquor that when combined with equal amounts of water, it turns to a milky drink that tastes like licorice. At first sip, I didn't like it.  After a couple more sips, you seem to forget what it even tastes like.  It doesn't take much to make you forget everything :)

After dinner we stopped at a local pastry shop to try some amazing Turkish baklava and tea befor heading back to hotel to get some much needed sleep.  We had to wake up very early on Friday to go on our first tour bus to see the sights of Istanbul!

To be continued...