So, here are a few pictures showing the highlights of the trip. Joel took 200+ pictures, but I just don't have the energy to upload that many...so here is what you get... :)
The group of us
This is me with my friend Tiffany. She lives in Istanbul and teaches at an international school there. We met in Madrid this summer in the masters program. She played a great host to our intimidating group of 9 people! She took us to a spot with a great view (picture coming up) on our first night when this picture was taken. She also took Joel and I out a couple other times. It was great fun, and wonderful to see her again! Thanks Tiff!
This was the view from the terrace of the restaurant where we ate. That is, our table had this view! That is the famous Blue mosque. It is called that because on the inside it has lots of blue tiles. Some also say that from the outside it has a blueish tint.
Opposite the Blue mosque is the Hagia Sophia. It is a cathedral/mosque/museum. It has a long and complicated history which I am not going to get into now. It in my opinion is less impressive from the outside than the Blue mosque, but far more impressive from the inside.
This was a view inside the Hagia Sophia. The mosaics have real gold in them. They were beautiful!
Now all that old stuff was cool, but, the markets, well, they were something else! Here is a pic of me at the Spice Market. Look at all those spices!!! Latvia, do you KNOW what you're missing out on???? Anyway...we spent a lot of time in both the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. I love the feel of the market. I don't know why. There is just so much stuff, and you can pick and choose and barter. It's good. I went a little overboard and got myself some bowls at the Grand Bazaar. But I bartered a good price. Tiffany was impressed when I told her what I got for the price! Along with spices they sell a lot of teas. I fell in love with the apple tea and ended up buying two 1/2 kilo bags of tea to bring home! :)
Ah, and another delight of Turkey...the baklava! I'm sure that at some point in life I had tasted baklava before, but I don't recall that I ever thought much of it. Then I saw this type of shop! We bought a couple boxes during the week and just shared them around. Oooooeeee!!! That is some good stuff!!!
For those of you who don't know, Istanbul is a big city. Tiffany told us that it has 17 million inhabitants. It is also split by a river, the Bosphorus. On one of our last days we took the ferries across the Bosphorus and to an island off the Asian side of Istanbul. This is the view from the top of that island. Let me tell you...it was a STEEP climb up to the top. But the view made it worth it!
And here is what I think may very well be the only picture of me and Joel together taken the whole trip. Maya, the 6-year-old, took it and she did a pretty good job! :) Too bad that like usual, I am making a semi-dumb face.
And here are my spoils! These are the bowls I bought in the bazaar. I LOVE them! :) They are all handmade, hand painted and completely unique. We had a couple different guys explain to us what made these so special, because this was a very particular look/pattern/color compared to all the other ceramics, but I don't really remember the whole deal. I just know that of course, I had to love this look, which happened to be the most expensive and rare kind. We spent a long time searching for, bartering for and buying these 15 pieces. But I am so happy now! I served a curry out of one bowl tonight, and it was just so beautiful! I can't wait to have people over for dinner now! :)
So, that's it. I'm sure Joel will eventually get around to posting lots more pictures on his flickr site, and when he does I'll let you know.
For now it's back to school, back to work, and on with life. :)
