Trip to Turkey

My wife Ashley and I recently went on a trip to Turkey to attend the wedding of her friend Shirley from high school. The wedding was in Bodrum, and we spent most of our time there. It was a fairly quick trip, and I wish we had been able to spend more time in Turkey.

We were in Bodrum from Thursday to Monday morning and we spent Monday night in Istanbul on our way back to the US.

Thursday (Bodrum)
We arrive at our hotel in Bodrum (Divan Palmira) after an overnight flight from the US and a loooooonnnngggg layover in Istanbul. We were really excited to get to the hotel.

Pool at Divan

Waterfront outside Divan

Turkish mezze and Effes beer on the waterfront

Friday (Bodrum) - Day before the wedding

Dock that we hung out on during the day, very relaxing

View down waterfront near our hotel
(you can see how each hotel has a dock with lounge chairs)

Shirley and Kemal had a party at their summer house
in Yalikavak the evening before the wedding

Picture of us...amazing view of the Aegean Sea in the background,
it was hard to believe we were in Turkey

Nice view from the pool

Late night dance party by the beach

Saturday (Bodrum) - Wedding Day

Setup for wedding reception by pool of Marmara Hotel
(city of Bodrum is below, Greek island of Kos in the distance)

The view from the Marmara Hotel was amazing

All dressed up for the wedding

Mezze before start of the ceremony

Waiting for the bride's entrance
(they timed this perfectly with the sunset in the background)

Here comes the bride

It's official!

This is the view that we had during the reception

Wedding cupcakes

Ashley's high school friends

Fireworks! (look for the heart near the end)

Dancing!

After the wedding, we hopped on the bus to go the the Halikarnas
(promoted as "probably" the best night club in the world)

Partying in the VIP section at the Halikarnas

Craziness on the stage!


Congrats to Shirley and Kemal courtesy of Halikarnas


Picture of the newlyweds on the day after the wedding
(Thanks for such a great time in Bodrum Shirley and Kemal!)

Monday (Istanbul)

We hung out in Bodrum for one more day on Sunday before heading to Istanbul on Monday. It would have been nice to have had more time in Istanbul, but we got to see a lot in one day.

Blue Mosque

Me outside of the Blue Mosque

Inside of the Blue Mosque

Hagia Sophia

Entrance to the Grand Bazaar
(this place was huge!)

We purchase a couple of things from this guy,
then he wanted us to visit his "cousin shop" that sold rugs...

...next thing you know, we're picking out a new rug

Stall at the Spice Bazaar

Bosphorus Bridge between Europe and Asia in the distance

Last night dinner on the roof of our hotel,
right before lightning knocked out power to our section of the city

View of Hagia Sophia at night from the hotel restaurant

You can see the full album of pictures here