everything in between: Summer Catch-Up Part 1

Soooo since summer is officially over...sorry about that....I thought it was about time to let you in on what I actually did. Yeah sorry, the blogging hiatus has been a little too long....my bad to the 4 people that rely on this for reading material....I'm back and better than ever. I've had an awesome summer including a couple big trips that I decided to break down into a series I'm calling Summer Catch-Up (seriously...I'm acting like a blogging big shot with the whole series thing...believe me I know my place). Anyways, lets talk about stop #1: Turkey:

I spent some time in Izmir first and then moved onto Istanbul. Let me tell you....Turkey is awesome. It didn't make top travel destination lists for nothing. I loved both cities. Probably my favorite thing about each is that so many things are happening outside. In the desert, especially this time of year, nothing happens outside because it's so hot, but I loved walking around in Turkey and seeing so many people living life outside....and not to mention the water. I am such a happy girl when I can walk beside some water. I don't know if it's the consistency of the waves, or seeing how small I actually am, or just those deep grown Eastern NC roots....but I'm so so happy looking out over some water.

Well any good trip starts with the friends you take with you....and you know from previous blogs that I have the most amazing friends ever. I met Brittany in Izmir and it was an amazing reunion....after we actually found it each other (which took a little while). It had been about a year since seeing her and we just had fun....lots of it. She's a great travel buddy....I recommend her.

We started off in Izmir, which is a really cool city right by the water. Brittany had a friend there who showed us around and gave us the best spots to visit. We also got to visit 2 biblical cities: Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-11) and Ephesus (Ephesians, Rev.2:1-7). I'm gonna be real honest with you....I do not get that excited over ancient ruins. I pretty much have the attitude of "if you've seen one, you've seen them all." I know, I know, history buffs all over are turning tables (actually, I doubt many history buffs read this blog). All that said, I loved walking around Ephesus. It is well preserved and it's really hard to describe being in a place like that..with so much history and where so many faithful people have walked.


View from Smyrna

Me and BB in Ephesus

The library in Ephesus

Along the boardwalk in Izmir

After a couple days in Izmir, we flew to Istanbul....I love that place. We stayed on the Asia side, so just about every day we took a ferry over to the European side (you know...continent hopping...no big deal). The ferry was one of my favorite parts...I love me some public transportation. We had a great time sight seeing and hanging out. Its a beautiful city...everyone should visit!!