Last Day In Turkey
Well like most things good, our time in Turkey had to come to an end. But before that, we spent a day at the Palace which had been converted to a museum for old artifacts. Lots of cool weapons, jewelry, and pottery. The most impressive part about the museum was the grounds within the Palace. Lush grass with beautiful trees, great for a nice stroll.
Coming back in the airport we were reminded how expensive Turkey was. As you will see in the photos, a value meal at Burger King is $15. Crazy!
Well, what matters most is that we had a wonderful week with our close friends Omar and Mira. They are great people and are going to make great parents to their soon expected daughter! Thanks for traveling with us guys.
The BIG Island, The BIG Waffles
So we decided to jump on a ferry once again, this time for 1.5 hours to the island of Buyuk Ada. This means “big island.” For the most part it reminded us of Mackinaw Island… only bikes are allowed, lots of summer homes, and great snacks like waffle sandwiches. Mira had remembered these from when she was here 6 years ago, and it was by far the highlight of the day for all of us! Basically it was a huge waffle with any kind of topping your heart desired. Then, they would fold it up allowing all of the chocolate, carmel, nutty, fruity yumminess to mix all together. Unfortunately, we were so caught up in this delight that none of us took a photo.
We walked around maybe a quarter of the island enjoying the outdoors and burning off the calories.
A Day By Land & Sea
Today our intention was to simply wonder the city. We knew we wanted to take a ride on a ferry but we were not sure where. Of course we could have taken the $20 guided tour but instead we chose the $1 ride that locals take everyday. This had us crossing the bay over into the Asian side of Turkey for a bite to eat and a little shopping.
The Blue Mosque, Cistern, and Aya Sophia
Today we wondered around the touristy part of Istanbul. We visited the Blue Mosque, the Yerebatan Cistern, and the Aya Sophia. I would say that the Cistern was definitely the highlight of the day. It was built around 550 A.D. to hold water for the city and was opened to the public less than 20 years ago
after undergoing renovations. It had a very romantic feel to it with cool mood lighting, goldfish swimming in the shallow water, and classical music playing softly.
We also spent a few hours at the Aya Sophia (originally built as a church, converted to a mosque and now is a museum). While the Blue Mosque may have more mosaics, because it is a working mosque you are limited as to where you can go. The Aya Sophia on the other hand is a museum with two floors to explore. The boys “explored” through their camera lenses, while the three girls “explored” with their imaginations which of course took longer. You will notice in our pictures the mixture of Christian and Islamic influences with crosses peeking out from behind Islamic paintings. It sparked an interesting conversation about whether or not this should be considered a representation of how the religions could coexist.
In between the sight-seeing and the picture taking and the crowd dodging, we of course had to take our favorite kind of break — a Starbucks, mocha break!
Istanbul & the Grand Bazaar
So here are the photos from our first day, ok first two days in Turkey. We slept half of the first day because we traveled during the night. This is our first trip with our real close friends Omar and Mira, so we are very excited. So far they still like us and the baby. Below are photos of us walking through the Grand Bazaar.
Unfortunately for the ladies, we found out that the Bazaar will be closed for the next 4 days for Eid. Ah, too bad! No shopping for 4 days… what will Omar and I do?
Our first impressions, we love it. Turkey is very European but still very much like the land we live in with the Arab influence, things are a bit more expensive than we would have liked, and everyone here is in awe of Amira… oh, yeah, and it’s cold, but that’s part of the fun after being in Kuwait!
Istanbul …Week without Walls
Going to Istanbul…Constantinople…this was the theme song for out last day of the trip. We explored the church-turned-mosque-turned-museum of Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque, and a quick trip to the famous Istanbul Covered Bazaar.
Sailing the Aegean …Week Without Walls
Days 5 – 7 were spent on three amazing sailboats traveling the coast around the city of Bodrum. The girls were on one boat and the boys were on two. Days were spent swimming, hiking and relaxing, and the nights were spent playing Mafia, testing their trivia knowledge from the week and sleeping up on deck. Even Karin managed a quick dip in the crystal, clear waters and a mud facial in a natural hot spring.
Exploring Ruins …Week Without Walls
On Day 1 we explored ancient ruins at Ephesus and Priene.
Leaving for Turkey …Week Without Walls
As part of the Grade 8 curriculum at ASK, the student have an opportunity to travel outside the school walls for a week (hence the name, Week Without Walls) and relate material learned inside the classroom to the real world.
