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The past three weeks have been a whirlwind. I have traveled every weekend, from Istanbul to Munich to Milan and have finally settled back in London for two weeks before our Fall Break! Since a blog post is long overdue, I have decided to break up my adventures!

Istanbul is one city that I never imagined traveling to.  Back on Thursday September 22nd, four of my flat mates and I woke up at the crack of dawn to catch the tube to Heathrow Airport. Our adventure to Istanbul was a field trip for my religion class, Understanding Civilizations Islam & the West. After a three hour flight we arrived in Turkey to explore a culture that I had never experienced before. 

A Mercedes bus picked us up from the airport and brought us to our Hotel that had a patio on the 5th floor that overlooked the entire city. It was gorgeous! Our group, all 46 of us, had dinner together at a nearby restaurant, where we stuffed our selves with lamb kabobs, rice, and the best humus I've ever had. After dinner we decided to go to a hookah bar with two of our teachers, all I can say it was quite entertaining.

Friday and Saturday consisted of two full days of a guided tour to the Suleymaniye Mosque, Rustem Pasha Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia, Hippodrome, Topkapi Palace, and Blue Mosque. 

The Suleymaniye and the Rustern Pasha were the first two mosques we saw in Istanbul. After learning about Islam for four weeks it was impressive to see the artistic beauty in each sacred place. Both had the same religious elements, however, the artwork and decorations looked drastically different.

Later in the day we took an hour boat cruise around the Sea of Marmara, which separates Turkey between the European and Asian continents.
Now, I can say that I have officially been in Asia! Other highlights of my trip include shopping at the Grand Bazar, getting a Turkish Bath, and having the best baklava ever!