Turkey for Turkey Day

This has been a Thanksgiving that I will never forget. Ever. On Wednesday night my roommates and I made a Thanksgiving dinner with our four other guy roommates, RA, and a couple other friends. Our program gave us 1000 kroner (about $200) to make a feast and, believe me, we did. It was so fun to combine old traditions with new friends. To go around and give thanks for this incredible semester and everything we have been given was truly amazing. A special memory, for sure.

At 5:00 PM the next day Ali, Jamie, Parker, and I boarded a plane for Istanbul, Turkey! Side note: Turkish Airlines is officially the best airline I've flown since being in Europe. Three course meals, free drinks, and movies. Sheer bliss. Every abroad student's dream. At the airport we met up with three of Ali and Parker's friends from the University of Denver, were picked up by a shuttle, and driven to our apartment! We got two apartments for the seven of us and it was such a great deal. After a long day of traveling we were all tired and went to bed pretty early. The next morning we headed out around 9:30 and went to breakfast at this cute restaurant right by our apartment. And this is when I realized how cheap Turkey is. My oh my. 

Next stop: Hagia Sophia Museum. This museum was first a basilica dedicated in 360 A.D.,  became a mosque in 1453, and in 1935 it was opened as a museum. 360 A.D. is almost 1700 years ago and this structure is not only huge but also still standing. Unreal. I was more awestruck at the Hagia Sophia than any other place I've been this semester. No exaggeration. It's absolutely massive and just incredible to think about how it was built and is still structurally sound. Needless to say, I couldn't stop snapping pictures!

After the Hagia Sophia, we went to the Blue Mosque. Since it is still a mosque that holds services we had to take off our shoes and put our scarves around our heads. This definitely gave us some great pictures. Where else did we get good pictures you ask? After our Turkish bath that night. I won't put too many details on here but, needless to say, we definitely experienced a traditional Turkish bath. Emphasis on the word traditional. Here are some of these special pictures.

Both Friday and Saturday we experienced another abroad student's dream come true: The Grand Bazaar. Hello 50 cent bracelets and Tory Burch knockoff wallets. But don't worry Mom and Dad, I restrained myself. I may have even restrained too much, but that's in the past. We also went to the Spice Bazaar, home of our most favorite nickname we've heard in our four months abroad: Spice Girls. I can't even complain about it, my 90s dream of being Sporty Spice might have just come true for a couple days in Turkey. The Spice Bazaar was absolutely packed with people so we bought tea and spices and left as quickly as possible! On Saturday we also went to Asia for lunch because half of the city is in Europe and half in Asia. So now I can say I've been to Asia! Here are a couple pictures from the Spice Bazaar:

We did so much this weekend and I'm sure I'll be telling stories for months but I hope you all had a great holiday weekend (even if it wasn't in Turkey)! 

A Two Week European Exploration

It's taken me a couple days to get this post written because I have been trying to sort through everything that I've seen and done the past two weeks! I just got back from a pretty incredible/crazy/packed two week European excursion that I will never forget. Words can't even begin to describe how amazing these past two weeks were and I am beyond lucky to be in a program that allowed me to do it. I'm going to try and keep this post manageable but here goes nothing...


City #1: Paris
I had been to Paris before with my family but I was thirteen years old and was nothing shy of a middle schooler that had newly turned into a teenager. Admittedly, it was really hard for me to appreciate Europe completely, so I was really excited to give Paris a second chance and see it through a new lens. Kelsey, Jamie, and I landed on October 31st at night and met up with two of our other roommates, Halley and Roxana, at our hostel. It was called Oops! Hostel. Unfortunate name, great hostel. After a quick morning run, we set out full of energy and ready to sightsee. Within the five days that we were in Paris we saw SO much. Notre Dame, Moulin Rouge, Sacre Coeur, Champs Elysees, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph, Versailles, and the Louvre. Needless to say, my second time to Paris I fell in love with the city and am so glad I gave it a second chance. Here are a couple snapshots of our time there!

City #2: Barcelona

After having five days packed with sightseeing I was excited to take a break and see some familiar faces. Laura picked us up from the airport and we dropped our bags off at their apartment, and then we went to lunch at this place called Bo di B. SO good. In Barcelona we didn't do a whole lot of sightseeing which was a nice break from our time in Paris. Our time in Spain was nothing short of entertaining, and I found that my conversational Spanish speaking abilities are still pretty good. I really found this helpful when I met these three Spanish girls who quickly became my apparent best friends. Note: The one with the chin ring and crimped hair may or may not have hand-fed me a french fry...

  

We also saw La Sagrada Familia, which is even more intricate and interesting in real life. I seriously think I could have stared at that church all day and still not seen everything. Another night we saw this incredible fountain show that they put on every couple weeks. One of my favorite parts of my time in Barcelona! And, of course, we had to have tapas and sangria. So good. Spain was filled with fun friends and great memories!

 City #3: Florence

Florence is another city that I had already been to but was very excited to go back. I have fond memories of great food and fun from our family trip to Italy and couldn't wait to go back! From the apartment in Barcelona to our hostel in Florence the travel time was about eight hours. Long day to say the least. BUT what kept us going throughout the day was our small light at the end of the tunnel: pear asparagus ravioli at a restaurant called Cuatro Leoni in Florence. Both Jamie and I had heard from numerous people that this entree was life changing and, believe me, it was. If you are ever in Florence you have to go to this restaurant and have this ravioli. I promise you won't regret it. After having a couple late nights in Barcelona, Florence had a much more quaint feeling to it, which was fun. We got to see so many Vandy friends, a very special treat! We all went to dinner the second night that we were there and it was so great to catch up with friends!

The third day we went to Tuscany, which was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Seriously. If you have the chance to go, it's incredible. We went on a tour of Chianti and then we had a wine tasting. The colors were so pretty because it's the fall and we could not stop taking pictures. Kelsey, Jamie, and I absolutely loved Florence not only for its charm and food, but also for the beautiful weather we had the entire time we were there!

City #4: Budapest

Knowing that we were all pretty exhausted and that Budapest was the last city on our trip, I didn't have too many expectations. I had heard really good things from people who had been there but really didn't know any details past the recommendations that I had gotten. Needless to say, the positive comments were affirmed and I absolutely loved the city! We walked everywhere, got to stay in a hotel, and just explored without real plans. Even though it was freezing it was sunny, bringing out what I personally treasure about Colorado: sunshine regardless of the temperature. Budapest has such beautiful churches and some really rich history, making me wish that we had a tour guide to just walk us around everywhere. We made it work with our tourist books and maps though :) 

Whew. And next week: Istanbul. No time to rest with only four weeks left!