August Adventures - Istanbul

While Jeff was on his "Man Trip", which I will post later, I decided to take a little get away of my own, thanks to some sponsored frequent flyer miles from my hermano! *And can I just say, Business Class is DE-LUX!* So here's the first stop - Istanbul.

My brother Matthew and his Turkish co-worker Erdal with his family.

The Hagia Sophia - a Cathedral-turned-Mosque.  

There are paintings of Mary and Jesus with Muslim art slapped over the top of it.

The good luck thumb hole.  You're supposed to spin your arm all the way around without lifting it up.

View from the Hagia Sophia looking across to the Blue Mosque

Topkapi Palace.  Every room had crazy tile work.

So supposedly the circle at the bottom is Emperor Constantine's signature.

 Views of Istanbul

 Baklava!

 Some random mosque

Men washing their feet before going into a mosque

The Blue Mosque

It's blurry, but that's my cute outfit I got to wear in the Blue Mosque

Rug shopping.  Some sketchy dudes trying to hustle us.

Shopping at the Grand Baazar

The spice market

More baklava and Turkish delight

The view from our hotel on the Bosphorus