Why'd Constantinople Get the Works? That's Nobody's Business But the Turks.

 Who doesn't want to stay in a Pink House?

 The locals clothes. I thought this only happened in movies.

 You know the Giant at the top of the beanstalk? Well, we found his Lair.

 Doors Without Handles.

 We went to Narnia and visited Lucy and Aslan.

 At the Blue Mosque. The one time I felt truly Turkish.

 I wonder how long it took to make those stain glass windows.

 One thing that all religions have in common is God. I believe that this is his light.

 Catie and I. She's jealous cause she didn't get a shoulder shall.

 The other side of this was a resturant. Shhh..... No one has to know.

 I thought this door was poetic. In what way, you'll have to figure out.

 The star in the sky. I wish I had domes like this in my house.

 It's a cat. Have you ever seen this in America? I don't think so.

 The Turkish Flag! If I knew the Turkish Anthem, I would start singing it.

 Ferry Ride to another Continent.

 The Grand Bazaar! It is a maze in there. A maze of pushy men who want to make a couple bucks.

Robbie as a monkey. I think the resemblance is way too similar to ignore.

On Saturday, Sunday, and only a slight bit of Monday, we were in Istanbul, Turkey. We had a two day layover so we left the airport and explored! So I know that many of you may be reading my brother's blog or my sister's as well as mine. I'm not going to give you a schedule of the events that we did, you can go to Robbie's for that. If you want something more philosophical and smart, go to Catie's. I'm looking more at the artistic side of things.

While we were in Istanbul, I took notice of something rather remarkable. The buildings and the architecture. It's all mismatched with different colors and styles. It's wonderful to look at and be surrounded by. Even walking through the streets, the everyday houses are each it's own, unique work of art. The details and decorations are so amazing and meticulous. It's almost as if that window, or that door was specifically crafted for the house. Each had it's own character and story with it. If the pink hostel we stayed in called Piya Hostel could talk it would be a little girl's voice. Whereas if the gray stone, wrought iron building next door could speak it would be the low rumbling of a man. My favorite part about it all is that all the buildings somehow ended up living side by side in a messy, bizarre, yet somehow still beautiful harmony.

Another thing that really caught me while I was there was the religion. Walking in the city, you see more women wearing scarves around their heads than you see women showing their hair. The scarves are wonderful, all different colors to drape on one's head. While we were there, on Sunday, we went to the Blue Mosque. It's a beautiful temple of worship for the Islam people. Before we were admitted inside, they stopped us and made us wear cloth around our legs if we were wearing shorts or a shorter skirt and our shoulders if we were wearing short sleeves. They didn't make the men change at all. We also had to take off our shoes. I thought it was curious that once we were inside, after going through the modesty process to respect the temple, that no one was being very respectful. It made me kind of upset. Something else that I thought was interesting was there was a place that only men could go to worship. The women weren't allowed in that part of the temple. On Saturday we walked along the shore. It was beautiful except of course for the almost naked men laying on the rocks. There was this one guy wearing a rainbow speedo that was a little too tight, he put his back to us, the put his hands in fists on either side of his hips, striking a kind of superhero pose. It was incredibly scarring. As we walked down the shore, I realized that it was almost all men on the rocks. To top it off, the two or three women that were there, were fully clothed. Culture in other countries can be very interesting. Well, those were my adventures in Istanbul. Please give me your feedback.