I finally have like 2 seconds to write in my blog....
Turkey was one of the most amazing places I have ever been to. We traveled from Istanbul to Cappadocia, then to Pamukkle then Selçuk, Ephesus to Demre. From Demre we took a boat through the Mediterranean Sea to Fethiye. I just arrived to the Greek Island Rhodes and I’ll be here for the day, then I head to Egypt.
Istanbul- we arrived at 7am and got started on our day. We walked around the city went to the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar, the Turkish people are super nice and helpful and the men are so cute :) We tried different foods and explored through the city getting lost going around in circles which is what we do best.
The next day we did the tourist thing, Blue Mosque which is amazing, the Hagia Sophia we had a private guided tour so interesting that one building housed three religions Christianity, Catholics and Islam. (We took a picture where Obama made his speech :) We then went to Basilica Cistern which is where the Turkish held their water supply underground if they ever got attacked. It was really cool, it has a long story about Medusa and the water has fish in it so the people would know if the water was poisoned, interesting. Then we went on the Bosphorus Cruise, which was a ferry that took us along the European side and the Asian side of Istanbul...it was kind of lame but we didn’t get a chance to really check out the Asian side so it was good that we got to go on the tour.
Our last say in Turkey we went for a Turkish bath. It was one of my top 3 moments on this trip so far. It was hysterical. We went to a local place, which already made it more interesting...most laughing I had done in a loooong time.
Cappadocia- Caner my Uncle Mark's friend picked us up from the bus station and we stayed with him which was awesome. Cappadocia is the place where people fled from the Romans in order to practice Christianity without persecution. They built underground cities, lived in caves and created a live in hiding so amazing. There are different styles Cones, Ferry Chimnies and a couple others. It is one of the coolest things I had seen. We went for a hike the first day and ended up who knows where trekking through brush, rocks, we pretty much went spelunking. We had no water and it was 105 degrees outside...fml. Then a thunderstorm happened, which was amazing and we went to the open air museum and walked around more.
The next day Caner took us to his work, I got to tie a knot in a Turkish rug sweeeeet, then we went to the underground cities, drank tea under an apricot tree. Then we drove around to see more sights, made pottery and hung out. Before we left Caner to us to sunset point and we looked out all over the city as the sun started to set. It was awesome
Pamukkle- is a city that holds the world’s largest calcium deposit mountain. Not even lime-a-way could help this place. We saw Apollo's Temple and swam in the pool of youth which is filled with ancient ruins, it was so coooool. The water was like 95 degrees and it is said that Cleopatra sent her men to find the pool and when they brought the water back to her and she washed her face all her wrinkles went away.
Then we climbed down the mountain through all the calcium deposits which was semi rough on the feet and slippery at the same time, both Lauren and I fell, but it was funny.
Selcuk/Ephesus- has more Greek history that Greece. It is filled with temples, theaters, ruins of all the Greek gods. It was exactly what we learn about in school, it was great. (I’m getting tired of typing)
The Boat was fucking (sorry mom) AMAZING!!! It was 3 nights 4 days and words cannot describe how great it was. We were in our bathing suits the entire time, in and out of the water. We went to some ports, and the 11 of us on the boat are now best friends. It is amazing all of the similarities that young people have even if they are from all over the world. The water was the perfect color, the sun was hot and the breeze kept us at a functional temperature. The coast of Turkey was beautiful.
Now I am in Rhodes and we head to Egypt for the next 4-5 days I am sooooooooo excited!
I hope everyone has a chance to travel, it really is amazing.
