{Cruise} Istanbul, Turkey

Cruising into Istanbul, we could tell it was going to be a beautiful city. In fact, we were saddened that we were only there for one night before leaving to go home the next morning at 6:00am.

It was pretty neat watching the Captain and the crew "parking" the ship.
Pulling into Port!

A beautiful Mosque! A little hazy this day, but you can still see it...

I have a smile on my face, but I'm actually sad to pack up...{1. because packing is awful. 2. because I wasn't ready to leave!}

Check out this city!!!

Turkish Flag!

Confirmation that my hair is 2 VERY different colors.

Emily and Nate were in Turkey with us! Congrats Mr. & Mrs. VanDerVeer!

In Istanbul, we took a tour on a ferry boat of the Bosphorus. This river in Turkey divides the country in 2 parts- the right side of Turkey is in Asia while the left side of Turkey is Europe. Pretty cool, huh? Here we are on the ferry boat.

Adam with his dad and bro.

Here is the bridge that connects Europe to Asia.

They served us Apple Tea! Apple Tea is BIG in Turkey. They serve it {complimentary at restaurants, etc} at the end of every meal to calm your stomach. It was soooo delicious. I wish we could get Turkish Apple Tea over here every day! It comes in a precious little glass served in a hand painted bowl... it's the little things in life that make me happy!

The bridge again. At night, there are thousands of little "Christmas" lights on the bridge. They change colors all night long...from purple, to red, to green, to yellow, to orange...

Located on the Bosphorus are beautiful summer homes of the wealthy Turks! I'd be happy to house sit for them one day!

Adam's always up for snack time.

I liked this photo because I got the flag and the bridge! I should be a photographer... wait, I think Adam actually took this photo...

When the tour on the ferry ended, we walked along the Bosphorus to a Museum. I couldn't take photos inside, but they had an exhibition of Turkish Costumes from the 1800s! They were AMAZING! The women wore LAYERS and LAYERS of beautiful lace and fabric with jewels encrusted on the bodices and oh, the shoes! I probably couldn't fit my big toe in them, but they were a work of art.

Across from the Museum, sat the sweetest Turkish couple. We were there on a Sunday and Sundays are a special day when the locals have picnics and parties outside with families and loved ones. They all gathered in parks and along the riverside. I LOVE picnics... maybe I should move to Turkey for Sunday picnics!

Do our glasses make us look like bugs?! Maybe it's the angle?

Cleaned up for dinner... sans the bug sunglasses.

Sadly, this was our last night on the cruise. We sat on our balcony for a little while and soaked up the city. Right about when this photo was taken, a ferry boat zoomed by with lights and loud music- the crowd on the ferry were all dancing and waving at us. Adam and I wished we were on that ferry... it looked so fun!

Beautiful full moon...