Istanbul!

Below are just a few pictures of Istanbul: the Sultans' palace where we admired an 86 carat diamond and more gold and jewels than I thought possible, the famous Blue Mosque with its 6 minarets, the Grand Bazaar with all the goods including sahlep (yummy warm tapioca-like drink), the Egyptian spice market, and one of the bridges over the river. All of this was on the European side of the city, which Angie showed us in a delightful, whirlwind tour.

New Year's Eve

At Amanda's fabulous suggestion, we ventured over "the Med" to Istanbul for New Year's and spent a week exploring the city. We quickly realized that it would take a lot more than a week of exploring to do the city justice. Anyway, we flew in on New Year's Eve and enjoyed a breathtaking ferryboat ride across the Bosphorous River to the Asian side of the city. Here I am in Asia for the first time! We met up with my mom's childhood friend, Angie, who hosted us during our time there. It was the perfect arrival, complete with gorgeous views, great conversation, and Amanda's anxiously awaited doner kebab. We heard that most New Year's celebrations were cancelled due to political unrest, so we just walked down to the water to bring in 2008 with a handful of people who were out. Can you see the glorious fireworks display behind us in the photo by the river that night? Yeah, neither could we.

Sunrise, Sunset

Amanda adored my favorite neighborhood around here, Sidi Bou Said. We managed to take in a sunset and a sunrise up on the hill overlooking the sea (not simultaneously, though). The cafe shown is a great spot for mint tea served with pine nuts. Yum!

Carthage

Christmas brought me a wonderful present - AMANDA! She flew in on the 23rd and we spent two weeks catching up and seeing the sights around where I live. My friend showed us around Carthage and it was great to have a tour with someone so knowledgable (as in, she's lived here her whole life and written a book about the different empires that have occupied Carthage). Here are pictures of the Roman amphitheater and baths.