On September the 6th 3 friends & I set out for what was the adventure of a lifetime! That's right friends, I headed across the ocean for the first time in my life! And let me tell you, it did NOT disappoint! Ok, let's face it, since we all know that my blogging skills are lacking, my friends & I have split up the story telling of what we did each day. I am actually starting with Sunday. So, in order to see the whole chronology of the trip from all of our points of view follow the links embedded below!
Hatching the plan...how we came up with this crazy idea - blogged by Jess @ Raising Rays
Friday & Saturday - travel days & surprising T - blogged by Leigh Ann @ Blessings of Motherhood
Saturday - T's perspective on the surprise of her life when 4 dear friends just walk into her living room unannounced - blogged by T @ Harvesting Tulips
Sunday
Well, as can be anticipated jet lag hit us all pretty hard and we unexpectedly slept in til 10! We all woke up shocked that we had slept that late, but I suppose that's what happens when you cross over 8 time zones!
Even though T had no clue we were coming and no time to prepare or go to the grocery in anticipation of 4 guests arrival, she just so happened to have all the fixings on hand for some delicious breakfast tacos! That's right, you heard me, we traveled across the ocean and our first 2 meals were very much "American" ha! Spoiler alert: it took me a few days to embrace eating a whole meal that was Turkish!
It took us a while to get ourselves moving, but after a nice breakfast and showers, we headed out to see the city! It was so amazing to see so many people (16 mill in the city!) and so many building. High rise after high rise!
We think we counted and we took 10 different modes of transportation while we were there: plane, taxi, mini bus, tram, trolly, ferry, our own 2 feet (lots of walking!), personal car, some thing I can't remember the name of, shuttle bus @ the airport, and I might be forgetting one? Here we are waiting for a mini bus, and Brent & LA on the bus.
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C & T took us to a cute little place where you can get Cay by the Bosphorus with a really nice view! It was relaxing and fun to see a bit of the city and just sit and enjoy a cup of tea. Tea's not really my thing, but I gave it a go anyhow, Leigh Ann on the other hand really took a liking to it...who knows how many cups of Cay she drank while we were there!
After our tea time we headed to the mall for lunch...this made me feel right at home! So much so that I ordered a Burger King burger...I know, I know, not very adventurous of me! I promise, I did eventually eat Turkish food. Here's a pic of one of the first Turkish dishes that LA & Jess had for lunch. Beans, salad, couscous...doesn't sound too weird, right?
After lunch the guys & E headed home to give us girls some shopping time!!! You know this made me happy!
We also headed to the grocery so that we'd have food for the week. It was so cool to see how T shops & buys things for their family. Some things were easy to tell what they were, others were more challenging since all of the packages were in Turkish! She's learned a lot and knows her way around very well! It was so fun just hanging out and shopping together!
Oh, you should keep your eye out for frequent photo bombing! C is the master at it!
Here we are in a taxi, headed home after a nice day together :)
We were pretty tired & it was getting late, so we ordered some pide. It's basically pizza but with no sauce. Can I count this as my first Turkish meal? Not sure it was very adventurous, but it was yummy!
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We headed to bed after that...I think this is the night that I remember laying there til about 3 am...my body didn't quite adjust to Turkey time.
Ok....stay tuned for the rest of the week!
Saturday - T's perspective on the surprise of her life when 4 dear friends just walk into her living room unannounced - blogged by T @ Harvesting Tulips
Sunday
Well, as can be anticipated jet lag hit us all pretty hard and we unexpectedly slept in til 10! We all woke up shocked that we had slept that late, but I suppose that's what happens when you cross over 8 time zones!
Even though T had no clue we were coming and no time to prepare or go to the grocery in anticipation of 4 guests arrival, she just so happened to have all the fixings on hand for some delicious breakfast tacos! That's right, you heard me, we traveled across the ocean and our first 2 meals were very much "American" ha! Spoiler alert: it took me a few days to embrace eating a whole meal that was Turkish!
We think we counted and we took 10 different modes of transportation while we were there: plane, taxi, mini bus, tram, trolly, ferry, our own 2 feet (lots of walking!), personal car, some thing I can't remember the name of, shuttle bus @ the airport, and I might be forgetting one? Here we are waiting for a mini bus, and Brent & LA on the bus.
.jpg)
C & T took us to a cute little place where you can get Cay by the Bosphorus with a really nice view! It was relaxing and fun to see a bit of the city and just sit and enjoy a cup of tea. Tea's not really my thing, but I gave it a go anyhow, Leigh Ann on the other hand really took a liking to it...who knows how many cups of Cay she drank while we were there!
Here we are in a taxi, headed home after a nice day together :)
We were pretty tired & it was getting late, so we ordered some pide. It's basically pizza but with no sauce. Can I count this as my first Turkish meal? Not sure it was very adventurous, but it was yummy!
.jpg)
Ok....stay tuned for the rest of the week!
