Florals FTW

 This afternoon we took a walk around the Sultanahmet (Old town) district in Istanbul. We popped into the Basilica Cistern, an old underground complex which was used as a storage place for water during the Roman reign. Nowadays it's a museum with impressive lighting and a less impressive amount of water.
Later we had some dinner at a kebab place, walked around some more and then had some delicious cakes at a super-fancy café.

The base of one of the columns in the shape of the character of Medusa from ancient mythology.

A obelisk that the turks stole from Egypt 

The cutest kittens!

A part of today's loot: a strapless floral dress

My chocolate eclair posing with my dad's banana-chocolate cake.

Happy days and chocolate cake to you all! Thanks for reading.

xxxx

Ninja

My (almost) Mediterrenean island getaway

Today we took a ferry to one of the Price's Islands in Itanbul called Heybeliada. It was lush, hot and amazing. Lined with little beaches, panoramic viewpoints and sunny boulevards. We rented bikes and rode to the other side to a lovely little beach where we gladly grilled ourselves for a few hours.

When we got back to the mainland we had a really lovely 3 course dinner and did some shopping on our evening walk. All in all quite the perfect relaxed day. Tomorrow we head to the Asian side to a clothes market...I can't wait!

I have to admit that I'm a teeny tiny bit sunburned right now...oops. I hope my aloe gel get sit under control over night.

Hugs and Kisses

xxxx

It's always better on holiday

 So this afternoon my dad and I went to see the newest Potter-movie. What an experience! I mean the movie was really really amazing (but I expected as much :P ). What I didn't expect was that there was just one other group of people in the full-sized theatre! Talk about a private viewing. While the room itself was rather modern, the rest of the theatre was beautifully nostalgic with movie-posters from the 40s and 50s. What surprised me the most was that there was an intermission right smack in the middle of all the action...I've never experienced that before. It was a really lovely experience, but unfortunately the volume was way too high and I came out with a nasty little headache.

Straight from there we took a tram and a metro to Taksim, the bustling business center of the metropolis. We walked down a shopping street lined with familiar names (topshop, mango etc. ). We had dinner in a lovely Italian-looking courtyard (the best chips ever, stuffed wine leaves and turkish meatballs. ahhh, I'm in food heaven). We ended up stocking up on t-shirts for 5 Lira (2,5 euro) each. I bought an over sized anchor-T, an Elvis one and one with Jimi Hendrix.

Outfit of the day: maxidress from New Yorker in Stockholm and a thrifted waistcoat

My highly employed sandals from H&M

Such a cute street musician. When I tossed him some coins the biggest smile spread on his face and the music turned into a super upbeat jig :)

A tram in taksim

Our gorgeous (and RIDICULOUSLY cheap) dinner spot.

The shopping street in Taksim. Paradise. Lined with cute cafés and restaurants. ahh.

Tomorrow we're heading out to the Princes Islands off the coast of Istanbul where the creme de la creme spend their summers. Tanning oil? check. Bikini? check. Camera? check!

Lots and lots of love, millions of dresses and happiness to you all!

xxx

Ninja

Tourists

And very stereotypical ones may, if I may say so. My dad caught a bit of a tummy bug/food poisoning yesterday so we've been taking it easy on the shopping today. We've gone to see the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque this morning and it was absolutely fantastic! If anyone's thinking of coming here, those are two locations that are not to be missed.
Now it's naptime before we head out to lunch and then to see the newest Potter-film.

Here's a batch of touristy pictures for you lot:

The Hagia (or Aya) Sofia

The Aya from the inside

Some of the bysantine mosaic work that's survived

The view of the sea from the Aya

The blue mosque

Me working the blue scarf in the mosque

Enjoying a cooling strawberry milkshake

The Aya from a distance

Some ottoman-style architecture

I think that it's about time to wake up my daddy now and find lunch somewhere before the film. I'm having such a wonderful time (but it's going so fast!) here and I never want to leave.

With love, from Istanbul

xxxx

Ninja

Not quite breakfast at Tiffany's

...but dinner at the bazaar. And it was amazing. Here are some snippets of our action-packed day (shopping is a heavy-duty workout. sometimes it's good to refuel with Starbucks).

at the grand bazaar

local sweets (Turkish delight etc.) at the Egyptian spice bazaar (I'm actually eating a pistachio delight right now!)

Turkish delights, or lokum as they call it here.

I've had a total of a kilo of these yummy cherries in the past day and a half

Our dinner-spot right outside the Egyptian bazaar. Gorgeous little kebab place with low seats and plenty of locals. Doing it the lonely planet way ;) 

I had a glorious lamb-kebab meal. Spicy, filling and beautiful :) I followed it by a glass of Ayran (sort of a buttermilk). So damn satisfying.

Now we're having a bit of a tv-night eating our delish delights and honey-comb!!! :)

Since I left my hair-mask at home I decided to play the kitchen beautician and use Turkish yoghurt to moisturize and pamper my hair. Fun and (hopefully) effective!

Tomorrow we'll be heading to Hagia Sofia in the am and then seeing the newest Potter-movie at a nearby cinema (eeeek!!!! :).

So far a really awesome holiday.

Thanks for reading

xxx

The road to Istanbul

Hellooo!

As I said, these are coming in a bit of a funny order, but please bear with me!

I woke up at 6am (ridiculously early compared to my usual routine). Powered by various sources of caffeine I got to the airport and actually found the plane (ok, so my dad was of help...). Despite my fears, the plane didn't fall and we made it to Budapest (Hungary) where we had a bite to eat and a good look around the (rather nice) airport. We made it on the plane to Istanbul, but before we took off an elderly lady had some sort of seizures and we were delayed (fortunately she was taken care of!). We arrived in Istanbul a bit late, but very excited!

Here's some piccies from the way there (since travelling is half the fun!):

My air-travel essentials: something sweet and fatty to eat, coffee to power me, a neck-pillow and an inspiring, entertaining, exhilarating magazine to flip through.

I took a head start into the A/W fashion (never to early to do a bit of backup research).

I had probably the biggest burger of my life in BK Budapest (now is not the time to complain about my unhealthy diet...)

We also treated ourselves to some delish macaroons at the airport :)

I rather enjoyed the airport at Budapest. Great furniture, so-so food-court and plenty of shopping possibilities (on the schengen side, the other side was a bit dissapointing...). I also really like the design of the place...the eye sort of glides on it...

I think that's all for tonight, folks!

I hope I'll have the energy for another exciting travel update for you lot tomorrow.

Now I'm gonna finish off my cherries and head to sleep (it's been a looooong day)

xxxx