turkey! turkey! turkey!

So I just spent the best week of my life in the beautiful country of Turkey . And boy, was it awesome. It exceeded any expectation that I had previously had and is one of my favorite places I’ve ever been. Everyday was filled with tours of Miletus, Pergamum, Troy, Sardis, Assos, Ephesus, the Grand Mosque, the Blue Mosque, the Church of St. John, the Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, Gallipoli, and Topkapi Palace. Each site was rich in its history and culture and absolutely spectacular. Major events in times past occurred in these places and it was such a great experience to be able to visit them. A couple of my favorite sites were Assos, Pergamum, and the Blue Mosque. Assos and Pergamum were full of ancient ruins and a theatre that can fit thousands. It was really quite something to be there and see what the past would have been like. The Blue Mosque was like nothing I've ever seen before. This ginormous building was decorated with beautiful blue tile and gorgeous carpets. These pictures do not do it justice.

blue mosque

assos

pergamon

ephesus

ephesus' theatre

gallipoli 

And don’t even get me started on the hotels! They were incredible! 2 were on the coast of the Aegean Sea which allowed us to swim off the dock. We had dance parties, pool parties, and got free drinks. They were basically 5 star resorts. We were pretty darn lucky .

The food was also an experience in itself. The first few days I couldn’t get enough. But then I realized that they eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, day, after day, after day: bread (which is what I mostly filled up on), soup, salad (which was pretty much just tomatoes and cucumbers in olive oil), and meat (always a mystery). Not gonna lie, It got pretty boring after a while. But it was all part of the experience and we all had some good laughs about it. Well, this was all very general and it would take about 10 pages to go into detail about each day and each site so I will spare you. But I encourage everyone to make Turkey on their travel list from now on. Turkey does not disappoint.