Turkey - Istanbul and Cappadocia

It is so hard to sum up my trip to Turkey in a short blurb! Turkey is one of the most culturally different places that I have travelled to. It is most definitely a mix of East and West. Kelly and I stayed with our friend Emel in Istanbul. Istanbul is a bustling city, with a beautiful skyline. It is easy to spend hours shopping in the Grand Bazaar and sampling turkish delights and tea in the Spice Bazaar. The Bosphorous is bordered by beautiful mosques and palaces making boat rides on the water beautiful.

I got to celebrate my bday in Istanbul which was a real treat. We ended a day full of site seeing in the old city at the Hamam (Turkish Bath). Imagine being stark naked and being rubbed down by a 300 pound Turkish woman on a slate of marble...quite an experience! At night Kelly, Emel, Dilek and I went to a night club known for its food, drinks, and drag queens!

Kelly and I spent the second half of our trip in Cappadocia. Istanbul and Cappadocia are two completely different places. Cappadocia is full of volcanic formations and valleys. We hiked through different valleys, visited the Fairy Chimneys, underground cities, and cave churches. Interestingly, people were still living in caves up until the 1980s. We stayed in a Cave Hotel to get the true experience!

I never got sick of the apple tea or nargile (hookah)! There is so much more to see in Turkey, I feel like I only got a sneak peak - enough to tempt me for more!

Four Seasons in One Day

Dublin welcomed Neil with sunshine, rain, hail, sleet, and snow. It was literally one of the most bizarre weekends (weather-wise) in Dublin so far. Our brother/sister weekend was great! On Saturday we were total tourists on the Dublin hop on/hop off tourist bus. Our favorite stop was the Guiness Storehouse - which is a bit like what I imagined Charlie's Chocolate Factory to be as a kid. The Sky Bar on top has magnificient views of the entire city. Luckily, when by the time we got to the top, the rain, hail, sleet, etc. stopped, and there was nothing but sunshine. At night we went to dinner with some of my friends at an old church that was recently converted to a restaurant/bar. It felt a bit sacreligious, but Neil seemed to get over after his first scotch! We ended the night at Zanzibar, dancing the night away! On Sunday, I was able to convince Neil to do a little shopping, giving him a euro make over...getting him ready for his trip to India.

PORTO, Portugal

Ratika, Ranita, Diksha, Aditya and I had a ball! Porto is the second largest city in Portugal and definitely worth visiting. Our vacation was a great combo of eating fresh seafood, drinking wine, touring the Sandeman Port Distillery and cruising the Douro river. Porto is more picturesque than our pictures do justice.

Our first night out in Porto, we didn't leave the hotel until 2am....the parties were just begining! Hats off to Adi for putting up with 4 girls getting ready each night!