To Asia for the Day.

Is Istanbul in Europe or Asia? Think on it for a minute.

In the mean time look through the photos from a glorious morning in Istanbul. It was a little rough waking up bright and early, but after a visit with IIMP (a group of churches that help immigrants integrate into Turkey) we were ready for the day ahead. 

Kayri, our Turkish tour guide, and Jakob, our professor. 

Turkish Tea is simply amazing. Favorite tea around.
However, it still doesn't beat a cup of coffee.

Here are just a few more pictures of how divinely we are treated by DIS. They took us to another 5 course meal, (including fish this time!), on a rooftop that overlooked the river. 

To answer the question I raised in the beginning, Istanbul is in BOTH! Europe and Asia! 

Our hotel and almost all of our academic visits were on the Europe side, so the class was taken over to visit Asia for the afternoon in the park and along the water. Just a boat ride over to Asia, casual right? 

On the bus ride back to European Istanbul. God is good.

Istanbul, Constantinople

Whew. It's been a long week. Istanbul was long in the sense that it was jammed pack with activities, but little did I know I would be coming home with an incredible amount of class work. The study of study abroad is kickin' in. (I guess it's about time?) Anyway, with the business of everything going on I am just now able to upload more Istanbul photos!

 Enjoy looking through the rest of my Istanbul Day One adventures!

Istanbul is STEEP. They have an underground trolly that is specifically
there to help those go a half mile up this road.

Graffiti? Outside of Copenhagen? No...

I've never appreciated the cleanliness of Copenhagen until having taken public transportation of Istanbul.

After visiting the Hagia Sophia, we made a trip over to the Topkapi Palace. It was the official and primary home of the Ottoman Sultans from 1465 to 1853, housing up to 4000 people. It is simply beautiful, made up of four main courtyards and smaller buildings that overlook the water with a view of Asia in the distance.

DIS treats us like kings and queens. See this view below? That was the view from our first dinner in Istanbul on the seventh floor of a hotel. You could look out and see the entire city. Fun fact: We were eating one of our 7 courses when there was a 4.5 earthquake, causing the entire building to sway back and forth. Terrifying? Yes.