Me in Sultanahmet

Me in Sultanahmet
Originally uploaded by abigayle57.

Personally I think that the Blue Mosque looks like something out of a fairy tale, or perhaps Disneyland (sad, American opinion I realize) In this picture I am facing the entrance to the Hagia Sophia - it amazes me how these two majestic buildings face each other like that. The park in between has a modest but beautiful fountain and was exploding with colored flowers, mostly tulips.

The Spinach Pizza we ordered on Stephanie's birthday came with Hard boiled eggs on it! It was actually really good.

Inside a Mosque

Sultanahmet

Sultanahmet
Originally uploaded by abigayle57.

View of the old part of Istanbul (Sultanahmet) from the Galata tower, cross the Golden Horn.

Introduction

Using my beloved friend Stephanie (dedicated Peace Corps volunteer that she is) as an excuse to skip the country for awhile, I cashed in a bunch of frequent flyer miles for a direct flight from Chicago to Istanbul on Friday April 8th, 2005. I spent 5 days in Istanbul before boarding a bus to Varna, Bulgaria where Steph is currently volunteering. I stayed for a week, during which we celebrated her birthday twice. Then it was back on the bus, and back to Istanbul for another 3 1/2 days. I got back to Chicago yesterday afternoon.

During the course of my trip I took 454 photos with my digitial camera. The main purpose of this blog, at least for now, is to show off my favorite photos.

There are some constraints as I am working primarily from a Mac (lovely, amazing machine) but I'll work out the bugs as I go along.

I will gladly answer any questions that you have about a particular picture - and you know that I could talk for hours about my trip, but I'll save that for the next time I see you in person.