Well the flatmates and I have just arrived at the first leg of out eastern europe trip last night. We are currently in Istanbul, Turkey. To be more specific Sultanahmet. So the itinerary is for the three of us to stay in Turkey until Tuesday. Then we will take a bus to Tetovo to see my friend Blake who is a part of the Peace Corps in Macedonia. We will hang out with him until Friday. Blake and I will travel to Bulgaria, where I will take a flight back to the England. The girls will continue on to Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia.

So the plan today is to visit the Blue Mosque, Roxelena Bath, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi palace and the Galata Tower. The trippy part is that we will be able to travel over the Galata Bridge in order to cross over into Asia. Look at me touching down on multiple continents. One of my flatmates just joked that that we should take a boat ride to Africa.

Well I gotta go...will give an update later.

History Lesson
Istanbul historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; is Turkey's most populous city, and its cultural and financial center. The city covers 25 districts of the Istanbul province. It is located on the Bosphorus strait, and encompasses the natural harbor known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) side of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world which is situated on two continents. In its long history, Istanbul (Constantinople) served as the capital city of the Roman Empire (330-395), the Byzantine Empire (395-1204 and 1261-1453), the Latin Empire (1204-1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453-1922).

UPDATE
Okay so it is going on 6pm out here and I am beat. We made it to Hagia Sophia and the Galata Tower. Yes I did cross over into Asia. We walked by the Blue Mosque and the Roxelena Mosque. We put off going to the Topkapi palace until tomorrow, because we are exhausted. The whole point of going on vacation is to relax. So that is my plan for the rest of the evening. To chill out, read and have a couple of drinks. I might even fit in dinner.

So the plan tomorrow is to make it to the Grand Bazaar to do a little shopping. I am in the market for a water pipe. I priced one today at 30 lira. Which is roughly 10 pounds or 20 dollars. British pounds go a long way out here. We are also going to visit the places we missed out on today. At the end of the day we are heading to the Cemberlitas Bath aka Turkish Bath. There is a hot area where you are supposed to sweat out the impurities in your body. Then comes the massage. I am so excited!!! The cost is about 40 lira.

I will catch up with yall tomorrow.

Labels: Istanbul, Turkey.