Turkish Delight

This is at the Hippodrome Square which is the first place we went in Turkey! TURKEY IS AMAZING! I don't think anyone really gets this picture.. but it's like the Sleeping Beauty thing! I pricked my finger and the next one is me in pain... I'm sick of just smiling in pictures, it gets old after a while.

This is the courtyard of a Sultan's palace. I've thought about this a lot and have come to a decision- I want one. The tile work in the palace was incredible and it had one of the best views in all of Turkey right on the sea.

Here is an example of some of the tile work and the gold all over the windows... This is my roommate Diedra! I call her D. I have no idea what we are doing here. 

How cool is this?! This is the Blue Mosque and was actually used in a Star Wars movie! I've never seen Star Wars but it was really neat inside as well. 

We got to go on a cruise down the Bosphorus. It was BEAUTIFUL. I loved it and we got to goof around on the boat. We had the whole boat to ourselves and really had a great time in the amazing weather. 

This is my great friend Camille! I just love her. We tried to get the Turkish flag in the background but you can see the great view. 

My favorite picture of the entire semester. We were telling everyone about our "Sure Love Ya" tradition and we all decided to give it a try. Now everyone is doing it and we even did it after our FHE prayer on Monday. Precious. 

Turkey had all these amazing castles right on the shore and this is just one that we were able to see from the boat. 

We got to make a stop at this look-out point between Instanbul (not Constantinople) and Troy. 

I really wanted a picture with sheep and the shepherd and this one was perfect! He brought the sheep over to us and let us pet it.

TROY! Scott and I are sticking out of the first two windows. 

This was a theater at Troy that was there at the time of Paul. Gladiators used to fight in there so naturally we had a match of our own... 

Behind Camille and Scott is the Trojan horse used in the movie Troy. Yes... the same horse that Brad Pitt may have touched. 

Right next to this horse is an outdoor basketball court that all these kids were playing at. We decided to join them and it was a blast. I would display pictures but I am not as coordinated as I once was. 

Dean, BJ and Tyson were attempting to look tough as the sunset went down on the harbor... and succeeded. 

This sunset was so pretty and you can see the place where Paul had a vision of a man beckoning him to where we were standing! Pretty neat. 

Class picture at Assos.

Aslan is his name... Scott named him after our tour guide (who had to be the funniest man I have ever met). Scott got him in Assos and he has been a hit. 

Assos had an amazing view and Scott caught me taking a glimpse. 

Pergamum is the Seat of Satan! We were able to visit all the 7 churches that we talked about. It was very pretty for being the Seat of Satan. We rode a tram up to the top and were able to explore around. 

I never quite knew how silk was made and this was so cool to watch! We were also able to see the Turkish women tying all the rugs and one of the ladies let me give it a shot. I can now make a Turkish rug! It only takes 4-6 months. 

This is the ancient library at Ephesus! With Scott's library card...

Goddess of NIKE!!!

Ephesus was probably one of my favorite places we went to on the whole trip. 

Ancient toilets... classic. Our tour guide Bulent Aslan joined Scott in this lovely picture. 

The guide called on Scott to give a performance in the Ephesus theater, which is huge... so here he is warming up. 

A beautiful rendition of "Come Fly With Me" and "Hey Jude" was given to all of Ephesus. 

I wish I could describe how funny our guide was. Our professor's name is Judd but he could only pronounce it as "Jude". So naturally the song "Hey Jude" was stuck in our heads the entire trip. The guide even sang it for us over the microphone and it was the worst sounding noise I've ever heard. We have a list of all the funny things he said and it makes me laugh every time. I will have to post it soon. 

A little show was put on for all the people coming off the cruise ships and we got to see a Gladiator fight at Ephesus.

3 Kings... or 3 Stooges.

Here was the mosque we went to where all the women had to cover their heads. I don't know how those women get the scarfs to stay on... 

These flowers were ALL OVER Turkey. I fell in love with them and miss them all ready. It was so pretty and I couldn't leave without getting a picture of them. Turkey was beautiful and so interesting and I am so lucky to have been able to go!