The time I risked my life for Turkish Delight.

The week after my Amsterdam weekend was an interesting one. I got back from the Netherlands on Sunday afternoon. Monday was a regular day of class. But Tuesday we left for Turkey as a group. We left Florence at 8am and drove to the Bologna Airport where we took a flight to Istanbul. In Istanbul we took a flight to Izmir, Turkey, which is on the asian side of Turkey. Izmir is near the ancient city of Ephesus. This is the same city that Paul wrote to(Ephesians). It took us a full 12 hours of traveling to get from Florence to Ephesus. Wednesday morning we woke up and toured the ancient city. The tour was so fascinating. I love ancient Roman cities and its architecture. We got to see the library at Ephesus. It was the second largest in the ancient world behind the library at Alexandria. It was huge. The city was just so interesting. I mean, Paul actually walked down the same streets we were walking down. He could have sat on the same steps I sat on. I was awestruck. After Ephesus we visited the Temple or Artemis and the Church of St. John. While we were at the church there was the noon time call to prayer for the muslims. It was so contradictory. I was standing in the middle of a Christian church hearing the Islamic call to prayer. The last thing we did in Ephesus/Izmir was visit Turkish rug and ceramic factories. After those visits we went to the airport and flew back to Istanbul for the rest of our visit.

Thursday morning we woke up and went and saw the great mosaics of Turkey and then went to the Blue Mosque. I had never been to a mosque before. I thought it was very interesting. I love learning about other cultures and religions. After the Mosque we went to the Sophia Hagai. Which was an old Christian church that was turned into a mosque in the 1600's and is now a museum. That was very interesting to see all of the changes it had to go under to convert into a mosque. After that was lunch. And i found out that I LOVE Turkish food. Its so yummy. After lunch we went to the Grand Bazaar. I bought a hookah and a pair of hiram pants. After the Bazaar we went to an authentic Turkish bath. Its like a spa but better. I got a scrub, massage and a facial. I was so relaxed after. I went back to the hotel, ate dinner and passed out. It was fabulous.

The last day we went to an Egyptian Spice market in the morning and then took a cruise around the Bosporus from the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side. It was neat to see the changes from European side to the Asian. After the market we had free time on the European side. I needed to go back to the spice market to get more turkish delight. I was with my friend Lana and Alexa. We needed to get from one side of the free way to the next. We ended up crossing six lanes of traffic and a tram way to get to the market. We almost died. Multiple times. But it was a fun adventure. That night we ate at the hotel and saw the whirling dervishes. Turkey was an amazing experience. I absolutely fell in love with Istanbul.