Saturday, November 24, 2012

my trip to turkey in pictures

 Because pictures are worth a thousand words right?  Nah, I'm just lazy...  plus these pictures and my words could never suffice to explain the glory that is Turkey!  It was really really lovely.  For this trip I went with a tour group for twelve days, which can be good if you're visiting  a country for the first time and you want to see a bit of everything (its bad because you only get a little taste of what the country and the people are really like).  Our group was very nice and we had a lot of fun, but if/ when I go back to Turkey, I would love to do it on my own... the Turkish people are extremely hospitable, Turkish Airlines is the bomb, the food is EXCELLENT (no preservatives, everything is fresh and seasonal... honey and yogurt and lamb mmmmmm), the whole place is alive with deep history (the historian in me was SOOO excited) and the shopping is glorious.  Just blogging about it makes me want to go back But no.  My next international trip will be to Japan (in May/ June) which I'm very stoked about :)  Anyway, hope you enjoy my pictures!

The library room at Topkapi Palace (Istanbul, Turkey)

Pomegranate Juice Seller (Istanbul, Turkey)
 
Juicy pomegranate  (Istanbul, Turkey)

 Hippodrome (Istanbul, Turkey)

 Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey)

 Lunch at the Pudding House: Lentil-stuffed eggplant, yogurt and Kebab (Istanbul, Turkey)

 Sultanahmet Camii/ Blue Mosque (Istanbul, Turkey)

 Sultanahmet Camii/ Blue Mosque (Istanbul, Turkey)


Grand Bazaar!  I spent way too little time here... (Istanbul, Turkey)

 Ataturk's Memorial (Ankara, Turkey)

 Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Ankara, Turkey)

 Iskender Kebab: yummmy!  Kebab meat over cubed pita with a tomato and butter sauce with fresh yogurt.

 Evil eye on a tree (Goreme Cappadocia, Turkey)


 View from my first balloon ride!  People were able to carve extensive homes/ tunnels into the mountains here because of the type of rock (tufa) its made of... inside these little places was much cooler than outside! (Goreme Cappadocia, Turkey)

 View from my first balloon ride! (Goreme Cappadocia, Turkey)

 View from my first balloon ride! (Goreme Cappadocia, Turkey)

 Lace Design on Turkish Ceramics at a Ceramic Factory  (Cappadocia, Turkey)


 Manti, Turkish ravioli with yogurt and garlic oil (Kayseri, Turkey)

 Goreme Open-Air Museum (Goreme, Neveshir, Turkey)

 Beautiful sunset (Goreme Cappadocia, Turkey)

 Mevlana Museum (Konya, Turkey)
 Pamukkale, Cotton Fortress  (Pamukkale, Turkey)

Ruins at Ephesus (Kusadasi, Ephesus, Turkey)

 Ruins at Ephesus (Kusadasi, Ephesus, Turkey)

 Charisma Hotel (Kusadasi, Turkey)

Ancient health spa Asclepion (Pergamon, Izmir, Turkey)

 Ancient health spa Asclepion (Pergamon, Izmir, Turkey)

Ancient health spa Asclepion (Pergamon, Izmir, Turkey)

 The ruins at Troy (Troy, Turkey)

Gallipoli Coast/ Anzac Cove (Turkey)

 Crossing the Dardenelles (Turkey)

 Spice Bazaar (Istanbul, Turkey)

Yeni Mosque, near the Spice Bazaar (Istanbul, Turkey)

9 comments:

  1. These photos left me in awe. Such beautiful places! You're so lucky to have vacationed there! :D
    Kieli~♥

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  2. It seems you had a wonderful time in Turkey and the photos you took are really beautiful! :)

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  3. VERY cool!! You've made me interested in visiting Turkey! hehe The balloon rides look cool but also scary! I get motion sick really easy, so I worry x___x

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  4. It was super fun! I encourage all of you guys to go :D Candace, I am VERY afraid of heights and I get motion sickness too (like I can't even handle the ferris wheel at carnivals) but I read that balloon rides were completely different (because the shifts in altitude aren't dramatic) and they were right! I was totally on the edge of the basket looking straight down and I didn't feel sick/ scared at all! It was very smooth and it kind of felt like I was standing on a building. If the opportunity ever comes up for you and you feel up to it, I'd say you would be perfectly fine :D

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  5. My favorite pictures:

    Grand Bazaar - I love lanterns, they're so beautiful and images with lots of them just really inspire and delight me. (Are those hookahs on the floor too? Heh!) I think my favorite lantern in the picture is that orange one with the spots. Those accordian-style ones are cool too.

    Evil eye on a tree - That just looks so cool!

    View from my first balloon ride! (first picture) - You best be framing this one. That is amazing. It's so surreal-looking. It sort of juxtaposes the modern with the ancient. My favorite of my favorites. XD

    Spice Bazaar - This one makes me feel like I'm there. It's also another shopping shot, and who doesn't love shopping? :P I feel like if one were to send their boyfriend to this market for spices, then one might expect jewelry on their return. It's smart marketing, really. ;P

    Anyway, thank you for sharing with the world. I've lived in Massachusetts most of my life and I would LOVE to travel to Japan. (Someday...) I cannot wait to see pictures of your experience there. Take care and happy holidays!

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  6. wow!!! great pictures of a lovely country:O)

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