Along the Bosphorus

The past two years we’ve managed to make a habit out of traveling abroad for a wedding in the late summer. In September 2010 we traveled to Istanbul, Turkey (in August of 2009 it was to Latvia…a post or two will come on that later). The whole city seamlessly ties together its European, Asian, and Middle Eastern influences with only the Bosphorous river (with all of its shipping and commerce) dividing the city and the geography into it’s European and Asian continents.

You can read our complete adventure on my personal blog (which is just about the only time I post on my blog lately, as a travel-log) but the highlights for me were:

• Learning about “driving” (or the lack thereof) in Istanbul
• Turkish tea (strong but tasty)
• The food! so much variety and some great stuff I’d never tried before (tiny fried fish? sure!)
• Our minibus tour of Istanbul
• Hanging out with Doug at a rooftop bar in the evening overlooking the city and the Bosphorous
• Experiencing a true Turkish Bath
• Our quest on the Princes’ Islands to find the mountain-top monastary
• and of course, the Doug and Elif’s gorgeous wedding reception on the Asian bank of the Bosphorous