Istanbul!

My trip to Istanbul this past weekend was exactly what I needed, relaxing and fun. I saw friends, walked around, sat at cafes, and had a good time. I have been to Istanbul several times before so I did not feel compelled to do any of the touristy things, which was a blessing in disguise. The one tourist attraction I wish I had gone to however is the Grand Bazaar. I did not buy anything in Istanbul, but because of that I did save money :). Three other American girls on my program went to Istanbul too, but we all stayed with different people. It was great to be on the same flight there and back though.

After class on Friday we had lunch and then took the metro to the airport. It was good that we had extra time because the metro wasn't running correctly, but luckily we had enough time to spare. There are two airports in Istanbul, one on the European side and one on the Asian side. Our flight flew into the airport on the Asian side because it was much cheaper, and it worked out perfectly for me since the friend I was staying with lives on the Asian side and it was more convenient. I took a bus and met up with my friend. I went to bed early that night because I was really tired and had to wake up early the next day.

on the Bosphorus Straight

Last week, I was contacted by AFS USA (the program I did my gap year in Samsun with) because they wanted to take pictures of American AFS Alumni in Turkey around some monuments in Istanbul in order to promote American travels to Turkey for a few programs. Another girl who is with me on CLS in Izmir did a year with AFS in Turkey the year year before I did and she was going to Istanbul the same weekend as I was. Therefore, we got up early Saturday morning to meet the photographers and they took our pictures :). We felt like rockstars :P

Sultan Ahmet Cami - Blue Mosque

photoshoot :)

After the photoshoot, my friend and I had breakfast and then walked around for a while before meeting up with my Turkish friend who studied at my university in the US this past fall. We went to Ortaköy and had kumpir, a Turkish kind of baked potato with everything you could imagine on it.

my Turkish friend and kumpir

Then we split up and I went with my Turkish friend to his house to rest a little. We went out to dinner and dancing after, which was a lot of fun. The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at a cafe. Sunday was very relaxing. My Turkish friend took me to a large mall which had fantastic architecture. After, we went to Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, the university he studies at, because it has an amazing view of the Bosphorus and the whole city. I can understand exactly why he goes there because the campus is gorgeous!

Boğaziçi Üniversitesi

View from Boğaziçi Üniversitesi

After visiting the university I had to head to the airport to catch my flight back to Izmir. It was a very relaxing weekend and I am glad I got to visit Istanbul again! I realized that Izmir as a whole is much more liberal than Istanbul in terms or apparel. In Izmir shorts are very acceptable, but there are several parts of Istanbul where it is unacceptable to wear shorts. It was great to just live in Istanbul for 2 days without all of the tourist attractions, although we did see a lot of tourists :P