The US Embassy did an exchange program here in Georgia. They had the a cappella group The Exchange come to different communities and perform. The Exchange is an American pop group that won the NBC's "The SingOff". I got to see them in Kutaisi with some friends the day before we went to Turkey. It was great to know all the songs and be able to sing along. They did a whole Backstreet Boys mashup and a T Swift 1989 one. One of there things is taking a photo with the audiences, if you look very closely you can see me on the ground floor on the right. It was a fun mix of Georgian and American culture, by that I mean it was American music but the concert started an hour late. The teen age girls loved these guys and yelled like there was no tomorrow every time one of them pointed at anyone.
Basilica Cistern
So the next day we (a group of 4 pvcs) headed to Istanbul at a very early hour. Our fight wasn't very full so I didn't have to sit next to anyone. That is the best case scenario after having a really good looking man sit next to you. We got to the airport and after a few minutes met up with another one of our friends who flew out of a different airport in Georgia. Now that we were all together we were on our way. It was only 6 am at this point (local time) so we had the whole day to look forward to. It took a long time to get to our hotel because we flew into the airport out of the city. After getting to our hotel (after going to the wrong hotel first because they are owned by the same people and are only one word off) we were ready for adventure. We stared where every trip to Istanbul should start, lunch. But after we hit up Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. These are two things I got to see last time I was in Istanbul, but we didn't get to go inside Hagia Sophia, so that was really exciting. Because of the current situation in Turkey you have to go through security to get into anything. After checking both these out and a stop at a restaurant for some baklave, we headed to the Basilica Cistern. This place is amazing. I have seen my fair share of cisterns, but this one is unlike anything I've seen before. It was so cool. There are live fish swimming in the water and they play soft music through out the whole thing. It was like what I feel living in a fantasy novel is like. The rest of the afternoon we spent wondering around the area getting a feel for where everything was and eating samples of Turkish delight. We wondered into another mosque and headed back to the hotel to rest a little before dinner. Dinner was amazing and the restaurant even had a rooftop bar. The rooftop wasn't open for the season yet, but they let us go up anyway and check it out. It had a view of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. After dinner went back to the square in between the two churches and got to see them with all the light on. There were so many birds flying around, their white bodies almost glowing against the black sky.
Day two started with breakfast at the hotel and a trip to the Spice Bazaar. The highlight of the Spice Bazaar is the candy. It was a very slow week in the bazaars so everyone wanted to talk to us and we could move around without anyone pushing us or bumping into us. We broke up into smaller groups so that wee could move around easier. Everyone got something tasty and we met up at the New Mosque (constructed between 1597 and 1663). It is a really beautiful building, and in front there are birds you can feed like in Mary Poppins. We then headed out to the Grand Bazaar. This thing is over welling in its size. We had no idea where we were or how to get out. We just kept walking and walking hoping we were going the right way. We found our way out a few Lira lighter. We got some lunch at a restaurant near the bazaar and went back to the hotel to drop everything off before we went to the port for our afternoon activity, a boat ride on the Bosphorus. The Bosphorus is a strait that joins the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea. It separates the continents of Europe and Asia. We picked the two hour tour, it turned out to be the perfect amount of time. Highlights from the tour included Maiden's Tower and a sea view of Dolmabahce Palace. We finished the night off with Mexican food and a walk down Istiklal Avenue. We saw Galata Tower and the historic tram.
Inside our Turkish Bath
After breakfast on day three we got on the tram and were all ready to check out Dolmabahce Palace, as it turns out it was closed that day. So we walked around the new soccer stadium being built next to it and headed back to the other side of the river to tour Topkapi Palace. This thing is amazing. We paid extra to go into the harem. I'm glad we did, because the harem was the best part. The palace was the main residences of the Ottoman sultans for almost 400 years. As a museum it now host some really cool things like swords and a really big diamond. The harem contains around 400 rooms, we did not see all of them. It was home to the Sultan's mother, concubines and wives of the sultan, the Valide Sultan (mother or grandmother of the ruling Sultan), children, eunuchs and the servants. All the rooms are tiled in the Ottoman fashion. After we were done at the palace, we went to lunch. The food in Turkey is amazing and one of the best parts of visiting the country. It turned out we picked a perfect time to head to the restaurant, because it started to rain right when we walked in. For this meal we had Kofte, or meatballs and grilled chicken. They were some of the best meatballs I've very had. It stopped raining just in time for us to head to our afternoon activity, a Turkish Bath. I've never felt so clean in my life. After our afternoon of treating ourselves, we went to a pub for dinner. I had a hamburger, it was a little bit of a let down. What wasn't a let down was the mozzarella sticks and fries. It's ok to eat American food on vacation if you can't get it normally.
One of the only photos of all 5 of us.
This was after lunch at Taksim Square.
The next day was our last day in Turkey. Some of our plans didn't work out so we found ourselves with a free morning. There is so much to do in Istanbul, but I hadn't written a backup plan for the morning, so after a fast meeting to pick our next activity we were on the tram. We wanted to go into a different part of the city that wasn't as touristy as where we had been. We just road to the end of the line and back, but it was really cool to see a part of the city we would have never gone to normally. You don't get to see a lot of locals in the touristy areas. After we got to the end of the line, we turned around and went all the way to the other end so we could visit Taksim Square and Domabahce Palace. I love that Palace and if I ever become an emperor this is the kind of place I would live. They have a whole stair case made of crystal. You can't take photos inside the Palace, but I got one before the guard saw me. I kid you not he did the thing where you use two fingers to point to your own eyes and then point at a person to me. He even lipped the words, "I saw you" as he did it. So I stopped trying to get photos after that. But you should know this place is beautiful and is home to the worlds largest bohemian crystal chandelier. Some say it was a gift from Queen Victoria, others say it was paid for. The whole palace is full of amazing and beautiful chandeliers, but this thing takes the cake. It is just massive. The gardens at the palace are very lovely and one side of it is one the banks of the Bosphorus. We finished off our time in Turkey shopping for gifts and eating pizza boats, pizza that has the crust wrapped around it like a boat. I don't know the Turkish word for them, but they were really good. Also I just love pizza. We were back in our taxi and on our way to the airport. Our flight was delayed a little so we didn't fly out until 1 am. I had a whole row to myself so I slept well on that flight.
Last weekend one of my sitemates and I went on an adventure. We started this adventure by checking out Petra Fortress in the village of Tsikhisdziri in Ajara. This is a fortress built during the 6th century. It is on a rocky outcrop beside the Black Sea. It is really cool to see something this old still standing. There are two different churches at the site. The larger was a cathedral church from the 6th century and the smaller a hall-style 10th century church. After we explored the fortress for a bit we hiked down a hill to the railroad tracks. I know I just said hiked like there was a nice path. There was not. We just kind of made our own. We made it and no one died so I'm counting it as a win. We then walked along the tracks for a while. We were trying to get to this part of the beach that people don't go to often because it's off the main road. We were almost there, when we ran into a new hotel. We just tried to walk through it, but it turned out it isn't open yet so two 20 somethings wondering around was not smiled on. We were walked of the grounds by a very unhappy security guard. After a long detour we found our way back to the railroad tracks, just on the other side of the hotel, and to the beach we were looking for. We enjoyed to beach and then went in to Batumi for lunch. Over all it was a great day.
One day I will publish a book. It will be called Logan and it will
just be photos of Logan with nice backgrounds.
This will be the cover
Day two started with breakfast at the hotel and a trip to the Spice Bazaar. The highlight of the Spice Bazaar is the candy. It was a very slow week in the bazaars so everyone wanted to talk to us and we could move around without anyone pushing us or bumping into us. We broke up into smaller groups so that wee could move around easier. Everyone got something tasty and we met up at the New Mosque (constructed between 1597 and 1663). It is a really beautiful building, and in front there are birds you can feed like in Mary Poppins. We then headed out to the Grand Bazaar. This thing is over welling in its size. We had no idea where we were or how to get out. We just kept walking and walking hoping we were going the right way. We found our way out a few Lira lighter. We got some lunch at a restaurant near the bazaar and went back to the hotel to drop everything off before we went to the port for our afternoon activity, a boat ride on the Bosphorus. The Bosphorus is a strait that joins the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea. It separates the continents of Europe and Asia. We picked the two hour tour, it turned out to be the perfect amount of time. Highlights from the tour included Maiden's Tower and a sea view of Dolmabahce Palace. We finished the night off with Mexican food and a walk down Istiklal Avenue. We saw Galata Tower and the historic tram. 
Last weekend one of my sitemates and I went on an adventure. We started this adventure by checking out Petra Fortress in the village of Tsikhisdziri in Ajara. This is a fortress built during the 6th century. It is on a rocky outcrop beside the Black Sea. It is really cool to see something this old still standing. There are two different churches at the site. The larger was a cathedral church from the 6th century and the smaller a hall-style 10th century church. After we explored the fortress for a bit we hiked down a hill to the railroad tracks. I know I just said hiked like there was a nice path. There was not. We just kind of made our own. We made it and no one died so I'm counting it as a win. We then walked along the tracks for a while. We were trying to get to this part of the beach that people don't go to often because it's off the main road. We were almost there, when we ran into a new hotel. We just tried to walk through it, but it turned out it isn't open yet so two 20 somethings wondering around was not smiled on. We were walked of the grounds by a very unhappy security guard. After a long detour we found our way back to the railroad tracks, just on the other side of the hotel, and to the beach we were looking for. We enjoyed to beach and then went in to Batumi for lunch. Over all it was a great day. 
