I can’t even recall the last time I blogged.  La vida esta muy loca.  The past few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster of contentment, numbing frustration, and sleep-deprivation.  Two weeks ago, I was coming off a runner’s high in Ireland.  The next weekend, I suffered through a host of back luck in Ibiza, Spain, which culminated in me traveling for 30 hours and spending the night in the Barcelona airport; I have fondly begun referring to this weekend as the weekend from hell.  The highlight of the weekend was meeting a French man named Otis.  He told me I was weird and taught me how to say the name of my favorite restaurant – Le Pan Quotidien- appropriately.  I was thrilled; he probably was not.

And last weekend, I enjoyed a lovely mini break in Istanbul, Turkey. And although I had to  deal with a massive amount of school work (when will I learn not to procrastinate),  I loved Turkey (seriously, I am totally obsessed) and wish I had had more time to enjoy the city, instead of furiously attempting to meet deadlines while enjoying the scenery inside Starbucks.  Thus, yesterday morning when I finished my last presentation, I breathed a sigh of relief, try to brush off some lingering disappointment, and attempted to come down from my caffeine induced high.  However, while I am still trying to let the caffeine dissipate from my system, I thought I’d share some of my favorite pictures from my weekend in Turkey.

The Blue Mosque was absolutely incredible.

Hagia Sophia.

Asian toilet, turkish toilet – whatever it was, it took my about 5 minutes how to, uh, use this.  Some more yoga experience probably would have come in hand here.  Don’t worry.  I put the dslr away first.

Shopping anyone?

The street food was probably a mistake.  I’ll let you take from that what you will.

Crossing the Bosphrous.

The view – from Asia!

Oh, and I got my first tattoo.  Sorry Mom.

So far, Turkey has been one of my favorite places I have traveled, ever.  I loved the chaos, the history, and the pervasive ambience of a distinct culture.  I could have asked for just one taxi cab ride that didn’t leave me with white knuckles or end in a minor accident, but they had awesome baklava, humus, and vegetarian friendly food.  Plus, all the bakeries give you copious free samples.  And lets not kid ourselves, food is the way to my heart.