Molly's Molly

TURKEY

It was time to make our way east, to touch Asia. (well... Asia Minor I guess) It was time to see Mosques instead of Cathedrals, and smell spices rather than just fleisch, and it was time to step out of our comfort zone's to experience something new... and what experiences we had!

We became the typical tourists, and cameras in hand, we set out to do it all. With 3 days in Istanbul and 4 days in Olympos, Shawn, Angela, Tara and I did everything from going to a Turkish Bath, to the trying some Turkish Food, learning to deal with hassling from the Turkish people, (that included getting the best pick-up lines ever) and attempting to barter (I'm sure that we still got ripped off). We had the most terrifying car ride of our lives, saw the biggest spiders ever, went to a water pipe cafe, and swam in the Mediterranean Sea. We walked through some ancient roman ruins, the Grand Bazaar, and the Blue Mosque. We made friends along the way and attempted to learn a bit of the language (although I can only say that I learned how to say 'Thank you').

ISTANBUL

The Blue Mosque

Mosque Sofia

Taxim

Ummm!!! Ein Türkisch Döner

Shawn and Tara

When I first saw all these men lined up outside the mosque I was a bit confused, but it turns out that they are all waiting in line to wash their feet before heading into the mosque for one of their 5 daily prayers. Tara and I tried to figure out if there was any rhyme or reason to the time of days that they prayed, but every day the prayer would start at a different time and would last a different length.

The entrance to the Grand Bazaar

An assortment of different Turkish spices in the Grand Bazaar

A small glimps of Asia

Oh the Turkish Bath... Wow, I must say I've never been so clean in my life. We all went in not knowing what to expect. Angela, Tara and I left Shawn at the entrance to the girl's room, went in put our swimsuits on, and found our way to the 'bath.' We walked into this room with a marble platform in the middle. There were also 4 small rooms off this big room where there were a few sinks that you could go and pour water all over yourself, and some random sinks around the wall of this room. A few people were just lying on the slab and one other girl was getting a scrub down from a older topless Turkish woman. So... this is what we signed up for...ok. We laid out our towels and enjoyed the heat that the marble slab had to offer, and kept waiting for what we were suppose to do next. Eventually it was our turn.... we all had a different topless Turkish lady that took us to a different spot on the marble slab. I was told to take off my top and 1. 2. 3. water was dumped all over me and the scrubbing began. My entire body was exfoliated, then covered in soap and scrubbed again, again and again. My hair was even washed. Definitely a must have (although kinda weird) experience in Turkey.

Shawn, Tara, Angela

A Turkish woman making a 'pancake' (no nothing like American pancakes). They were a certain type of dough filled with cheese, spinach or potato. It became the main part of my Turkish diet.