Weekend Getaway: NYC

This weekend was so much fun! We left Saturday morning and hopped on the bus to New York City. We made great time and arrived at noon near Penn Station. We walked to our hotel in Hell's Kitchen, Ink48, and they let us check in early which was great. We dropped our stuff off and relaxed in the room for a bit. The hotel was ultra modern and very cool. Then we headed out to explore the city and do some shopping. We hit up places the boyfriend wanted to go to (the Nike Store, the NBA Store, the Adidas store) and places I wanted to go to (Banana Republic, Esprit, etc). For dinner we grabbed pizza at this tiny whole in the wall place that had delicious pizza but not much space for enjoying it. Then we wandered around and got dessert to-go at this French bakery on 9th Ave and ate them in the room while watching the Slam Dunk contest.

Sunday morning we woke up early because we had to get our stuff together for check out as well get down to the Financial District to see the 9/11 Memorial. After what seemed like 12 different checks of our tickets and going through metal detectors, we finally made it inside. The memorial itself was very nice, very calming and somber. I thought it was a very well done and a great way to pay tribute to those who had perished. I also had no idea the story behind the "Survivor Tree" until I asked one of the very helpful guides what it was. She informed me that it was found in the ground but very badly burned. It was taken to a sanctuary for treatment and all of the old and burnt branches were cut off. It was re-planted (in a different location) in the memorial on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. It is very cool how you can see the old bark and new re-grown bark. It was quite inspiring.

After the Memorial we grabbed some brunch at the Westway Diner which was a neat, fast-paced diner with delicious food. Then we headed to High Line Park which is an elevated park made from where the elevated train tracks used to be. It was very pretty and nature-filled, and gave you a different perspective of the city. It was quite peaceful up there, but I can imagine it gets very crowded during the summertime. After the park we just wandered around the city some more and then had to head to the bus stop to get back. All in all it was fun and I'm glad I was able to surprise the boyfriend with a nice get away.

Also, I spotted 3 different people in NY wearing the boyfriends' new headphones. Get them while they're hot: http://www.urbanears.com/headphones/plattan

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow I head off to my homestate of Ohio for the beginning of a Thanksgiving celebration. My sister and her fiancee are driving back to Cleveland so the boyfriend and I are hitching a ride with them. This is the 1st time the boyfriend is coming home for an actual holiday, which I am very excited about. We will be in the car for most of Wednesday, since it takes about 6 1/2 hours to get there but there is usually a lot of traffic around the holidays.

My aunt is hosting Thanksgiving this year at her house which I am excited about. She makes really good food and lots of it! I think this year we will have 20 adults and 1 kid. My Grandparents are coming, my whole family, my Mom's sister's family and most of my Mom's brother's family. My sister is bringing her fiancee, I'm bringing my boyfriend, and last I heard my little sister is also bringing her boyfriend as well.

Friday early afternoon is a wedding shower for my sister that my Aunts are throwing her. I'm very excited and hope she likes my gift! Saturday morning the boyfriend and I have an early morning flight to St. Louis, where we will then spend the weekend with his family and celebrate Thanksgiving part 2. I have never been to his house for Thanksgiving, in fact, I have only ever been to Thanksgiving hosted by my mom or her sister, so this will be a big change for me. I just hope I'm not Turkey-ed out for part 2. We will spend Saturday, Sunday and Monday in St. Louis.

Once I get back, it'll be less than 3 weeks until Christmas. I better get shopping!

Turkey - Part 2

After seeing the Blue Mosque we went across the street to see Hagia Sophia. The Blue Mosque was free whereas the Hagia Sophia cost 20 lira to get in (roughly $12).

The Hagia Sophia was built as a Cathedral in 437 (1,437 years ago), and was later converted to a mosque and then to a museum. It is very famous architecturally (or so the boyfriend says) but it was absolutely spectacular inside. And massive! The pictures don't do it justice.

After the Hagia Sophia we had dinner at this place right around the corner from our hotel

Then we walked around the Hippodrome, which is a rectangular area where they used to horse and chariot racing in the Constantinople era.

The next day we went to the Basilica Cistern, which is where they caught and stored rainwater which the city used for their water supply. The cistern was built by Constantinople in the year 532. It was very dark and dreary down there, with beautiful columns supporting the structure.

We got our picture taken where we dressed up like a Sultan and a Princess

After the Cistern we went to the Grand Bazaar which is a very old covered shopping mall. It was so crazy inside - vendors trying to get you to come to their stand, tiny little alley-way type streets inside there making it impossible to navigate your way around, and any type of souvenir you could possibly think of.

After the Bazaar (I bought a lot of stuff)

 

Then we wandered over to the Spice Bazaar which was just like the Grand Bazaar but all the stands were selling food, spices, or food related items.

I was pretty Bazaar-ed out by the time we got to the Spice Bazaar so we didn't buy too much stuff there. After the Bazaars, we went for a walk by the bridge, which was busy with fisherman trying to catch fish.

We stumbled upon Topkapi Palace on our way back to the hotel

Once we got back to the hotel we had to pack because the next morning we were leaving for Cappadocia

Packing

We found a Starbucks at the Istanbul Airport

 

Boarding our plane

Stay tuned for more!

Turkey - Part 1

It's the time you have all been waiting for! Turkey updates! Hooray!

The boyfriend and I left on a Friday night and flew for over 10 hours on a direct flight to Istanbul. We flew Turkish Airlines and the flight went great. I slept for a lot of it and we got food galore on the flight along with our own personal TV stocked full of movies, TV shows, and games. I watched Soul Surfer and I cannot recommend this movie enough. Even though you know the story (girl gets her arm bit off by a shark while surfing) it is so well done and emotional. Anyways, we finally land in Istanbul and take the metro to the tram to our hotel. We stayed in a hotel called Side Pension and Hotel and it was located right in the heart of the tourist area, which worked out great since we were super close to all the tourist attractions.

Our hotel room at Side

We got dinner at a restaurant called Palatium where we tried Turkish coffee. 

I had never tried Turkish coffee before but I figured I like coffee, it has to be good, right? Oh how wrong I was. Turkish coffee is like espresso but even more intense and gritty (like stuck to your teeth gritty) and has all this nasty sludge stuff at the bottom. Basically it was one of the worst things I've ever tasted in my life. But now I can say I have tried it. Plus it is served in these super cool cups.

After dinner we walked around a bit and took some pictures in front of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia at night.

I'm in Turkey!

Blue Mosque

Our hotel was next to the Four Seasons, which used to be a prison

 The next morning we woke up and had free breakfast at the hotel out on the terrace. A typical Turkish breakfast consisted of fresh bread, butter, white cheese and jam for the bread, a hard-boiled egg, black olives, and slices of cucumber and tomatoes.

The view from the terrace of our hotel

You could see the Hagia Sophia

And the Blue Mosque

After breakfast we headed over to the Blue Mosque. Outside of it I ran into a stray cat (they were EVERYWHERE) who was super friendly. I sat down and she/he immediately jumped onto my lap.

You had to take off your shoes to enter and women were supposed to have their heads covered. Women were also supposed to dress "conservatively" but since it was cold out that wasn't a problem at all.

The inside was full of intricate tiling and was beautiful

This is where they pray at 5 times a day

The ceiling of the Blue Mosque

Me with my head covered while inside

I think that's enough pictures for now. Stay tuned for more!