Hagia Sofia and the Cistern of Doom

Today Auntie-Santi had a tour so Asan and I were on our own.  We started off at the Hagia Sofia which dates back to the 6^th century, which is crazy that it’s still standing because we can’t even keep a parking lot up for 20 years in the US. 

From the outside it’s huge, but it’s even bigger once you get inside.  

And there were amazing views from the outside. But the window was a bit high...

Asan had a little trouble with it...

Then we passed by the Blue Mosque...

Once we finished there we hit up the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market, which were bizarre-y and suuuuuper crowded, so I freaked out and we left.

Last we hit up the Cistern near Hagia Sofia which held all the water for the city. 

Here is where things took a turn, these are the first signs we saw…

And if you’ve been following this blog, you’ll notice a pattern that if Asan isn’t tripping or dropping things, I am, so we just assumed disaster would strike.

Once we got to the bottom my camera started doing weird things...

and then we found out there were statues of Medusa hidden somewhere, so we went searching.  The deeper we got the more wet it got and the more signs like this we saw, but we pressed on...

Things started looking hopeless, but eventually we found them!

Now we are off to dinner with Auntie-santi and her best friend Lati.  That is if I can just un-freeze Asan…

Lon and Done

After waking up in London to find an Asan-and-Keith-shaped hole in the wall... 

I mean, it's hard not to take this personally. 

...I did some research... 

Guys?  Where you goin?   GUYS???

...and discovered that they were on their way to Turkey, leaving me to navigate London on my own for one more day.  My plan was to learn the layout of the city, as well as its rich history, so that I could learn to live like a local, just in case...

...but then the sun came out...

...and with the sun comes day-drinking, according to the locals.  So Alex reared his evil head and took me to the park for an afternoon of fun and wine, where, along with Markie and Gemma...

...I slowly drank and napped my grand plans away on a sunny patch of Park.  

And then we went to dinner, where I drank and ate the rest of my time in London away...

I don't know what else to say, except that London was great.  In fact, this entire trip was great.  From what I remember, anyway.  Some things are fuzzy...mainly due to the fact that Alex is the devil.

Devil

...of course, Markie didn't help much.

The Other Devil

They were very helpful in bringing out our inner deviants...

...which maybe we didn't need much help with at all.

But I'm proud to report that after nearly 20 days...

 ...in five different countries...

...battling countless perishes...

...and Eurovision...

...I somehow managed to survive and make it home to The Manor, where this pile of amazingness was waiting for me, courtesy of Jon's sister Molly.

Home Sour Home

Luna is right:  It's time for sleep.

okbye.

Churches, Mosques and More Food, Oh My!

So today was my first full day in Istanbul.  And Asan's Aunt, Gülin is going to be our tour guide.  I gave her the nickname Auntie-santi (pronounced shawn-tee), because on the trip we have been called

Asan, Mama-santi because he has made sure the rest of us idiots didn't get into too much trouble.  

Auntie-santi has a whole tour planned for me, which is incredibly sweet of her to do.  She is one of the top tour guides in Istanbul so to have a tour by her is pretty sweet!

First stop on the itinerary, food! Of course it's food.  I'm beginning to realize that a lot of things in Turkey revolve around food. 

We took a taxi here and I don't know how anyone can drive in this city, it was like Frogger mixed with the Indy 500, everyone is going 9000 miles an hour and zipping in and out.  I was a little nervous, and there were a few close calls with other cars.  And in Turkey people say "hop", sorta of like the Greeks "opa" when they drop something.

So half the car ride I would see something coming and just yell "hop-AHHH!" Mama and Aunti-santi just laughed at me, as this is normal driving in Istanbul...

We went to an area called Rumelihisari which is right on the Bosphorus, on the European side of Turkey...

It's so gorgeous here...

Aunti-santi took us to this great little place on the water for breakfast.  We sat for a minute than a man came round selling fresh almonds and walnuts...

And we ordered a big spread to share, fresh cheeses, olives, honey with cream (which I just wanted to eat with a spoon, sooo good), fresh fig jam...

And then we ordered an omelet with this turkish sausage, which is sort of like chorizo...

After gaining another 5 pounds, we headed to our first stop the Chora Church.  Turkey being a Muslim country, I didn't think they had Churches, but this one is important and different because it tells the story of Mary...

After seeing the Church we headed over to see one of the bigger Mosques in the city, Suleymaniye.  But we did stop to have a little snack, which is very popular here...

It's pickled veggies and then "dry beans" which are sort of like white beans, in this really yummy tomato sauce served with rice...

They cook it in huge pots somewhere else and then this guy wheels it to the different restaurants and delivers it...

I also learned a valuable lesson today, DO NOT PARK ILLEGALLY IN TURKEY!

They will just take your car, it was hilarious!

And took all of 30 seconds to do, and then it was gone, awkward!

After we finished eating we went to the Mosque, and it was massive, and just beautiful.  It was so peaceful over here as well, there were lots of people praying...

And to enter the Mosque to pray, you need to wash your hands and feet and neck, there is a whole ritual to follow before entering...

The view from the Mosque is amazing, it looks over the whole city...

Aww Aunti-santi...

There is an entrance for tourists, you need to remove your shoes and be silent inside.  The Mosque was gorgeous, it was much bigger than I thought it would be...

Afterwards we went for a walk and saw another Mosque called Rustmpasa.  It was apparently commissioned by some corrupt politician that everyone hated way back in the day...

After that we walked through the Marketplace, and it was started to get a little crowded because today is a national holiday.  We did see some things that were a little, huh strange I guess is the word...

Like this creepy ass mannequin!

And this random guy in a wetsuit...

Asan's younger brother Berkan had met up with us earlier and the 4 of us walked through the market as it got more and more crowded...

Then we took a shortcut under the bridge, which if you know me, crowds can sometimes make me a little uneasy...

Uhh, you want me to go in there?

Uhh, guys? Where'd you go?

At least Asan was a little uhhhh, as well...

But once we came out near the Galata bridge, I get why we went this way, the view is amazing...

All in all absolutely great first day in Istanbul, now we are off to get ready to meet up with Asan's school friends for a Bloody Mary party, mmm...