Wanderlust - Turkish Delight (Part One)

March 16, 2014

I have suffered from a severe case of wanderlust my entire life. Even before I knew what it was, I knew I wanted to travel the world and see everything, meet everyone and experience everything. The world was much too big to get boxed into my small hometown.

After getting home from visiting my friend Carolin in Germany a couple of years ago I realized that although I had traveled quite a bit, I had limited myself to countries that were not so different from the US. I knew right then and there that I needed to plan a trip to an area of the world completely variant to the rainy streets of Seattle.

I chose Turkey because Istanbul was a place I had always wanted to visit. I love history and the Animaniacs' version of "Istanbul (not Constantinople)" has always been one of my favorite animated skits. I found a great tour of Turkey and the Greek Islands and immediately booked it.

My awesome calendar.

I spent several days in Istanbul before meeting up with the tour. Being alone as a single, American girl in a foreign country could be intimidating but I think they were actually my favorite days of the vacation. I had a great hotel with an awesome location and met some amazingly funny people....and some creepy ones too.

It really doesn't matter what you look like, if you are a Western woman you will be eye candy for the men. You really are considered to be promiscuous so they will try anything to get in your pants. I had so many free drinks, it was awesome. I also met a great group of guys in the hotel bar one afternoon. They were a futbol team from Belgium and greeted everyone with double kisses on the cheek. We shared drinks and stories and watched Galatasaray vs. Real Madrid in a Champions League game broadcasting from Istanbul.

Preparing chicken in a clay pot

Apple Tea.

Fireworks Display

Istanbul is such an amazing city. It is rich with history but so youthful and fun. Everyone goes out for drinks at night and the bars and restaurants all have seating outside so you walk down these streets lined with tourists and locals intermingled and having a great time. Every meal ends with apple tea and baklava, free and never asked for (but let's be honest, never turned away!). Meals last hours and life is celebrated and embraced. I LOVED the culture of the city.

My first full day in Istanbul I woke up early and took a cruise on the Bosphorus. I decided to take the full day cruise, which was an hour and half of sailing followed by a few hours at the last stop before returning back to the city. Anadolu Kavagi is a TINY port down on the Black Sea. There is nothing there but restuarants, a handful of shops and an abandoned fortress at the top of a VERY long and steep hill. That hike will definitely get your blood pumping. Assuming you don't pass out from the hike, it's a pretty view of the Bosphorus meeting up with the Black Sea. They are building a new bridge connecting Asia to Europe, so it was one of the last times you would have a chance to have a completely clear view of the water.

"Inside" the fortress.

View of the fortress from the boat.

At the top of the hill...finally!

The Black Sea.

My last few days alone were spent touring one of the most amazing cities in the world. I loved almost every moment of it, save for the extreme jet lag that bogged me down on day 3 and the Turkey tummy. The history surrounding me at all times was incredible and the call to prayer became this very beautiful ritual I started to look forward to hearing every day.