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I could gush about Istanbul for hours. It’s possibly my favorite city I’ve ever been to… truly vibrant and layered. And of course the old cliche “where east meets west” could not be more correct. My one regret was shortening our trip because of the fear of terrorism and political unrest. We felt safe and comfortable on our short whirlwind tour of the city. Take notice of the number and size of Turkish flags. I’m curious the appearance of the city before the coup attempt.

Galata felt similar to Williamsburg, complete with a Shake Shack. I couldn’t believe it. Specialty boutiques and sidewalk cafes lined windy cobblestone streets. Women in full burkas next to hipsters in tiny cut-off shorts.

Not pictured: going to a traditional Turkish Hammam (Cagaloglu Hammam) and awkwardly bathing ourselves alone in a massive stone hall with natural light streaming in from the dome above.

Next site seeing stop was Topkapi Palace, located with a view of the Bosphorus and the skyline of Istanbul. The ornament was varied but always vibrant and elaborate. Hand painted tiles and gold everywhere. We especially loved wandering the Harem where the royals immediate family and servants lived.

Hagia Sophia, the building I most looked forward to seeing on this entire trip. It did not disappoint in its incomprehensible scale. Unfortunately there is quite a bit of scaffolding inside and out that skews your perception. It also felt very collage-y. A mish-mash of colors and stone. Christian and Islamic iconography. Old and new.

Day 8: The Blue Mosque or Sultan Ahmed Mosque, was our first stop on our whirlwind tour of Istanbul. It was modeled closely to the older, more famous, Hagia Sophia that it sits directly across from but began and continues to be a functioning Mosque where as Hagia Sophia began as a Greek Orthodox Church, morphed to a mosque, and is now a museum.

Those columns are hugeeeee. They are called “elephants feet”.

Day 7: Started fresh with even more ruins, this time the Ancient Agora. The large Middle Stoa has been re-built with a roof. I actually like this because I could finally experience a space similar to how it would have been.

We spent the last bit of time before our flight walking around the Psyrri neighborhood. It’s known for graffiti, large murals, and antiques.

Highlight of the trip: finding these kittens on our balcony. Maybe I should just stay home and volunteer in a shelter rather than going on these extravagant vacations…

Day 6: We seriously knocked out the Athens tourist route in 6 hours. Of course by getting an early start and because… well… I don’t like ruins much. Not my thing. They were very overwhelming and inspiring to see in their scale, but I can’t spend a ton of time just looking at them.

The Ancient Acropolis is where the majority of recognizable temples, monuments, stadiums are located. My favorite ruin was actually the Temple of Zeus with its more intricate corinthian columns and the Acropolis looming in the background (last photo). It helps put the height of the Acropolis in perspective.

Day 5: We went on a mediocre all-you-can drink boat cruise in hopes of seeing Santorini in a new way. It was relaxing but really just killed 6 hours floating around in a boat, staring at the coast just out of reach.

The black sand beach was a nice afternoon because it was our very first time ever using an umbrella at the beach. We will never go back to frying in the harsh, open sun now that we know the pure joy of man-made shade w/ a cold beer and a reclining chair.

Cheers to a genuine day of lounge vacation (not our normal travel itinerary)

Miscellaneous photos from our time on the island. The sunsets really are some of the best I’ve ever seen. And they’re so consistently beautiful.

We had some excellent wine in Santorini, and it’s of course cheap (because it’s Europe). There’s a few vineyards on the island. By far our favorite was Venetsanos Winery where we had 7 tastings with this amazing view of the water and cruise ships…