Food From Greece and Turkey

thanks for all of your help on the glasses post!

i think i figured out which i'll order :)

so onto the food i ate in greece and turkey.

YUM.

i ate so many fresh veggies and salads it was great.

and some pastries.  

but thats okay.

some of this food isn't from these two countries.

the cruise served amazing food from all different places.

Zucchini Balls from our first night in Greece

The tzatziki was what I looked forward to the most in Greece.  it was incredible.

obviously i did not eat, but looked kind of cool

nutella gelato?  YES.  

{this is what I talked about at the Roman Market in Athens}

Nutella Baklava from Greeze

Blueberry tart on the ship

Lunch in Patmos

again, did not eat.  but wow.

The spice market was amazing.  it was full of tease, spices, oils, and everything imaginable.  They let you sample anything you want.  We picked up some Turkish tea, Turkish apricots, and spices to bring home.

The top two photos are from the legendary brunch at our hotel.  

{We stayed at the Ciragan palace by the way}

As for the Grand Bazaar, I would love to go back, because I don't think I fully enjoyed this experience.  it was every crowded, and I got a little overwhelmed, so it would be nice to go back and just take a deep breath.

I didn't mention anything about the cruise, and since this is the last post I'll do that now.  We were nervous about taking a cruise, since we never had.  But I enjoyed it.  It really is just a floating hotel.  We chose the luxury Seaborn cruise because it's really small.  But the food was five star and the service was incredible.  We spent two full days on the ship, {well I spent 3 because I was sick one day}, and it was perfect because we got to relax from the busy days exploring the islands.  

have a great friday night! xo

Istanbul, Turkey

last night i was absolutely swamped with school stuff to do.

however, the fact that tomorrow is a jewish holiday is easing the pressure off of the new school year.

don't you love when you're christian and your school gives you off for a jewish holiday?

our last stop on the trip was Istanbul, Turkey.

It's where the cruise ship docked.  We spent three full days there before coming home.

Istanbul is one of the those completely magical cities.

the mosques and palaces we saw were stunning.

the view from our hotel was breathtaking.

you can see for yourself, it was once of those places with one of a kind sites.

{this post has a ton of photos because i really couldn't leave any out}

The Blue Mosque was one thing on my list that I had to go to.  And it was even better then I expected.  We hired an awesome tour guide to take us around Istanbul on our 2nd day there.  He took us inside of the mosque and told us about the creation.  We saw so many women and men praying and it was interesting to hear about the different men/women sections.  We had to wear shawls and long skirts.  The entire place felt so sacred and holy and it was really a wonderful experience.  

The Hagia Sofia.  This was also a spectacular place.  Our tour guide took us through it and told us that to build it, they built a pile of sand and built the Hagia Sofia around it.  Then, they had to shovel the sand out!  

The architecture inside was amazing.

After the Hagia Sofia, we took a walk through the local towns in Istanbul.  We took pictures of the palaces and local architecture.  This building above and below used to be a school.  How amazing are the tiles?

On our final day, we spent it walking around the Spice Market, Grand Bazaar, and checked out some of the shops near our hotel.  I have pictures of these in the food post.

Amazing, right?

i'm off to yoga! 

xoxo