Istanbul

How to describe this trip to Turkey and Istanbul?

 Hagia Sophia

I would say wonderful, but really, it was so much more than that. A myriad of emotions went into this trip - nervousness (traveling alone, landing in Istanbul at 1:40 am), excitement (hugging my girl for the first time in ages), awe (Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque), and wonderment.

 

 This man's rabbits and rooster will tell your fortune. Honest.

I realized, in so many ways, that Istanbul is the place of beginnings - empires, movements of faith, culture, continents.  Its grandeur was pleasantly overwhelming for this small-country girl as I realized that there is something so refreshing about feeling like a speck in the middle of something much bigger than yourself.

Blue Mosque, at dusk.