No, You Can't Go Back to Constantinople

Continuing my Turkish adventures!

Day three began with a trip to the Blue Mosque.

Then we stopped for a delicious lunch of kebab at the Pudding Shop.

After lunch, Emily and Talia wanted to go on a cruise of the Bosphorous.

Owing to my tendency to get seasick and Vanessa's fear of boats, we did not join them. Instead we went to the spice bazaar.

Istanbul couldn't have been more the polar opposite of Ukraine. Everything was so colorful and beautiful, arranged in such attractive patterns, and the shopkeepers were so enthusiastic and friendly.

The prices were pretty great, too. I bought I decent-sized box of saffron for 3 Turkish Lira... so a dollar fifty.

Then we walked the distance between the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar, looking over all the shops and stalls between.

There were some great outfits on sale... and some not-so-great.

I was eyeing all the beautiful fabric, and Talia finally convinced me to go buy some. I got some beautiful red lace which I'm very excited about-- it's hard to find good lace in the States, and I have a skirt pattern I've been wanting to make which requires it.

Since it was Christmas Eve and the group was splitting up the next morning, we decided to finish up with a holiday dessert party at Hafiz Mustafa, this fantastic dessert chain in Istanbul.

The variety of desserts was so amazing that Talia was tempted to eat them all.. :P

Turkish tea is also awesome.

It was a great end of our Istanbul experience.

The next morning, it was off to Cappadocia!