Charlotte's Web: Istanbul

My trip has already been quite the adventure. On our way from JFK to Nairobi we had a 14 hour layover in Istanbul, and thanks to a lovely SLU student, we had a tour of the city from an Istanbul native, Zeynep. We were met by Zeynep and her father in Istanbul on Friday morning, and quickly started the day by hopping on the metro and making our way into the heart of the city. Her father was very generous and cheery throughout the day, although he spoke no English. For breakfast we ate a traditional Turkish meal of a sesame bread twist that we bought on the street. We spent most of the day walking around the tourist attractions in the city, visiting the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar. We couldn't go inside of the Blue Mosque since it was a Friday and it was closed for religious ceremonies at the time we were there. At the Grand Bazaar we enjoyed shopping for some Turkish souvenirs, admiring the different handicrafts and sitting down for Turkish coffee. For the afternoon, we taxied to a different part of the town, which appeared to be a shopping and dining area for locals with cobblestone streets lined with shops and restaurants. Zeynep brought us to one of her favorite restaurants where we enjoyed several different traditional Turkish dishes and the strong alcoholic drink made with Raki, which tasted like liquorice. I wasn't a big fan of the drink, but the food was delicious. We ended our day by heading back to the airport and relaxing for a few hours before our final flight to Nairobi. Saturday morning we will have landed in Nairobi and met up with the rest of the group after a long journey from the USA.