Yay!!! I spent my birthday in İstanbul!!!

This week I have three papers due and a Christmas party so even though I have yet to share about Georgia, I won't really have time to blog about all the happenings in Ankara until next week.

The good news is I spent my birthday in İstanbul!!!! Best birthday ever!!

So here I'll leave you with a photo tour of my trip to İstanbul! It's hard to capture the beauty of İstanbul, it's just such a breathtaking city.


Jake and Caro on our lovely night train.


View from the amazing Haydarpaşa train station of the ferrys on Marmara Sea! Haydarpaşa was formerly the train station of the Orient Express. Also so many seagulls!


Caro and Jake on the ferry across the continents! Haydarpaşa station in the background. It's literally on the water.


The Blue Mosque on the left and the Aya Sophia on the right across the Sea of Marmara. Get ready for a lot of mosque photos.


Oh hey look I'm in Turkey, there's the flag! Haha, in the background of the flag is the Bosphorus Bridge which goes from the European side (on left) to the "Asian" side (on the right).


The New Mosque with all the ferrys in front of it.


This is for everyone who's ever taken a ferry in Seattle. See how the boat just bounces up to the dock? Yeah that's how people get off, they just walk straight from the front of the boat onto the dock. No fancy waiting for a passenger bridge, just walking/jumping off the boat.


So many photos of the sun over the New Mosque on Galata Bridge.


Hey there's me on Galata Bridge.


The fishermen of Galata Bridge.


Turkish delight?


Ahh the only place I really wanted to go on my birthday was the Aya Sophia, so much history, so much religion. Very very unfortunately we were too late. NOOOO. Guess that just means I'll be going back to İstanbul soon!


Aya Sophia as seen through the gates to the Blue Mosque.


The inside of the Blue Mosque. Totally doesn't capture it, try googling it to really see what its like. Also side note, if you're not Turkish they make you walk through the side door haha. Oh man.


Beautiful sunset near Galata Tower.


Yay! All my lovely friends who came to İstanbul for my birthday. So so wonderful of them and I'm so grateful I met them! Somehow I managed to not get any good photos of us during the evening so here's us at the hostel looking weird.
(from left to right: Jake leaning over, Martin, Kamila, Caro, and me with my chest seeing daylight for the first time in Turkey)


Sunsetting behind the New Mosque.


Some of the many fishermen on Galata Bridge.


This is not doing justice to the fact that I literally couldn't move my arms in this CROWDED underground sidewalk.


Lantern shop in the famous, very old, very cool Grand Bazar.


A peaceful side street.


Overlooking the Bosphorus.


Caro and I enjoying çay, the swing and the Bosphorus.