Monday, July 28, 2008

Turkey in Pictures

I thought posting some of my favorite pictures from our trip would be a cool way to share our trip with you. Turkey is beautiful and we loved spending time with old friends while we were there... and making lots of new friends too! The rumors are so true-- Turks are the most hospitable people on the planet! Enjoy the snapshots...
This is the view out the window of our hotel in Izmir.

This is the sunset view over the Bosphorus from the rooftop resturant in our hotel in Istanbul.

Andy walking into the church of our good friends in Izmir for a Sunday service.

Andy and Umut hitting the music stores to check out gear that we could maybe rent in Izmir.

A tile mural of Izmir's coastline at the ferry station.

The Turkish flag is EVERYWHERE in Turkey. This one is hanging off the back of the ferry boat in Izmir.

Anna with Umut's mom when she had us over for afternoon tea and looking through Umut's baby pictures! (Izmir)

Andy and Anna with our new friends from Izmir, Ugur and Bahar! They joined us for several nights of hitting the rock bars looking for live Turkish music and also had us over one afternoon for lunch in their home.

Andy leaving the underground office of a rock bar in Izmir where he was meeting with the club owner. It was a tiny gnome door beneath the club itself. You couldn't even stand up straight in the little room.

Our friend Fikret getting mad at Andy for putting on a Galatasary hat at dinner. (see post on "Andy Found Himself in the Middle of a War").

Hakan and Nemruze were some friends we made while in Izmir. They had just gotten married 3 days ago! Here, I captured them flirting with each other in young love. They joined us one night to go hear live music.

The view from our hotel balcony in Izmir provided us a bird's eye view of a Turkish wedding one night on the roof of the parking garage across the street. The service area was on the floor beneath. The reception lasted well into the night. We were so glad to get to at least see this from afar.

A busy street scene in the Beyoglu area of Istanbul. This was Monday night at 10:30pm and it was bustling with people and life!

The view out of our hotel room in Istanbul. You can see the famous Bosphorus in the background.


Candid capture of Umut during a meeting with a rock bar owner in Istanbul. He was SUCH A HELP to us while we were there!


A cityview of the Bazaar Quarter area of Istanbul as seen from our hotel restaurant. Pictured in the foreground is the "Suleymaniye Mosque".

On our ferry ride to the "Asian Side" of Istanbul (from the "European Side" where we stayed).

Andy and I in front of the Galata Tower just in front of our hotel in Istanbul. This is the famed Tower where the first man who attached wings to his arms to test out flying jumped from in the 1700s.

Galata Tower lit at night through the glass roof of the resturant in our hotel. (Istanbul)


Andy and Umut EXHAUSTED and waiting for our flight in the Istanbul airport. This is the day before our return to the states and we had worn ourselves out!

1 comment:

ASuh said...

Hey! I met Bahar too when I was in Izmir a few years back - glad to see that she's still around!