Winter Holiday - Part 1

I spent the majority of my winter holiday outside of Romania with my dear friend Elizabeth. I feel so lucky to have someone get on a plane on Christmas night to travel around the world to see me. Let alone to have this be a friend who has known me since 3rd grade. I hadn't seen any friends or family since July when my cousin Emily came to visit so I was extremely excited to be with a loved one, especially around the holidays.

Elizabeth arrived on the 26th of December and we spent a couple days in Bucharest before heading to warmer climates. We were a bit nervous because on the day of our departure heavy snows hit Romania.
However, the Bucharest airport knows how to deal with snow so our flight departed on time and in just one short hour we arrived in ISTANBUL!

Istanbul was amazing and with only 3 days there it was a bit overwhelming, but we managed to see a lot. Here are a few of the highlights from our time there.

The Blue Mosque (exterior)

The Blue Mosque (interior)

Taking photos inside the Blue Mosque.

Hagia Sophia (exterior)

Hagia Sophia (interior)

12th century mosaics in the Hagia Sophia

Orient Express train station

castle viewing during a boat cruise up the Bosphorus Strait

We made it to both the Europe and Asian sides of Istanbul. Elizabeth is representing her affiliation.

As we hit both sides we felt ready to venture to an even warmer climate. Next stop Athens!

Blogger note: As with most of my vacations, I took way too many photos. If you would like to look at my larger Kodak Gallery, just shoot me and I'll send you a link to the full gallery.