Istanbul!

My parents are visiting and they very kindly agreed to watch Noah so Matt and I could AT LAST take a vacation alone. One of the down sides to living across the ocean from the grandparents is that it's a lot harder to get away without children.

Not only was this our first getaway without Noah, but also our last getaway while living in Europe (at least this time). I think we made a good choice- Istanbul would have been a lot harder to see with Noah in tow.

It was an amazing city- totally hectic and chaotic, but also so ancient and full of history. It was amazingly different than the rest of the places we've been in Europe (although technically Istanbul straddles both Europe and Asia).

Istanbul at sunset (view from the Bosphorus River)

We FINALLY got to do a food tour in a city we were visiting. We had appetizers and dinner in Asia. This was the guide showing us how to eat a rice-filled mussel. YUM!

The guide brought us through this food bazaar on the Asian side of Istanbul. This is all fresh honey from bees that pollinate different types of flowers. DOUBLE YUM!!

Fresh meat and cheese platter

Dried vegetables

...and Dessert in Europe. Turkish symbols made from Baklava

Grand Bazaar entrance (one of many)

Inside the Grand Bazaar

Hagia Sophia- built in 537! 

Blue Mosque (really named the Sultan Ahmed Mosque)

Inside the Blue Mosque. Turkey is a secularized country and one of the only places in the world a non-Muslim can actually enter a Mosque.

Inside the Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque. It is nicknamed the Blue Mosque because of all the blue tile work inside.

Inside the Blue Mosque

Suleymaniye Mosque

Inside Suleymaniye Mosque

Suleymaniye Mosque

Suleymaniye Mosque