Front of the Topkapi Palace

Overlooking the Bosphorus from Topkapi

Looks like SF!

We were able to wander around the palace grounds for about an hour, checking out the treasury and the mini museums inside. The treasury housed some ridiculously ostentatious stuff — think lamps, jewelry and chairs made of gold and gems. The bling in this place was out of control! We also got to see Mohammed’s footprint (a cast of it), plus Moses’ rod from the 13c BC. We were trying to figure out how they ensured the legitimacy of these things… even if it was dated, how can anyone really know that that particular rod belonged to Moses? Seems like a stretch, but I’m gonna believe it for now.

Magic lamps?

After that, we headed back to the Grand Bazaar for shopping session #2! I am seriously in love with the bazaar… the shopping is so amazing and there are so many amazing things under one roof! Alex snagged her scarf and I got a few goodies for myself and for the fam, including delicious Turkish delight. I hadn’t been the biggest Turkish delight fan before my trip here, but I’m definitely loving the stuff. The pomegranate and the pistachio versions are seriously delish!

Sultan's Tomb

After, we stopped for a leisurely lunch and passed by sultan’s tombs. Now we’re getting ready for our afternoon naps and are headed to see the Whirling Dervishes tonight at 730P. We’ve decided to take a trip over to Asia tomorrow mid-morning for brunch and some sightseeing before heading back to London tomorrow night!

Check out some more of my pictures from Istanbul in my album!

Love from Turkey,

Ceramics at the Grand Bazaar

After waking up bright and early today, Alex and I started our morning with breakfast in our hotel’s breakfast nook, looking out over Sultanahmet, facing the Blue Mosque in the distance.

Our view during breakfast

After a quintessentially Turkish breakfast (olives in the AM, anyone?), we started our day by checking out the Hagia Sofia, and then traveled over to see the Blue Mosque up close.

Al & I in front of the Hagia Sofia; the original was built between 532 and 537 AD

The Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque are considered two of the most impressive architectural achievements in Istanbul, and though these pictures probably don’t do them justice, they live up to their reputation! We didn’t go in to the Hagia Sofia (we may head in tomorrow), but we did venture into the Blue Mosque to see the inside. After removing our shoes and covering our heads, we headed in to what is considered one of the most holy of places. The outside is remarkable, but the inside definitely competes — there’s something really amazing about being inside of a mosque. Where cathedrals and castles dot Western Europe, mosques are not something that I normally get to see. In fact, this was the first mosque I’d ever been inside!

Inside the Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque

After checking out the Blue Mosque, we made our way down to the Grand Bazaar, something I had been looking forward to for entirely too long! Despite all of the amazing things to see here, the bazaars were on the top of my list! Unlike the rest of Western Europe, the goodies from here are quintessentially Turkish and make for the coolest gifts ever! The Grand Bazaar was a serious sight to take in — so many vendors selling water pipes, handmade ceramics (gorgeous), candle holders and rugs on every corner! Al and I made a number of friends during our journeys and had tea with loads of locals while haggling with vendors. I ended up leaving with a load of gifts and thoughts of other things I want to invest in when we go back tomorrow! Check out this amazingness:

Magic carpets!

Pretty candle holders.

Gorgeous ceramics!

The ceramics are out-of-this world beautiful. I picked up a few goodies for momma bear today, but I may snag some cool kitchen ceramics to send home to her as well. I feel like someone needs to own one of these things!

After spending a few hours perusing the Grand Bazaar (a must!), we made a new friend that led us down to the Egyptian Spice Market (and to yet another mosque — they’re everywhere)! The spice market was a pretty awesome experience — lots of food! Olives, nuts, Turkish delight and loose leaf tea everywhere.

Spices at the Spice Bazaar!

Mmmm.... Turkish tea!

For the record, the apple tea is ahhh-mazing! So delicious. I’m definitely snagging some tea and Turkish delight (the pomegranate-pistachio version is heaven) tomorrow to bring some Istanbul back to London with me! Mmmm!

After a long day of walking around (with a few too many hills), we ended up back in our hotel room for a power nap before a Turkish dinner and a two-hour hookah fest near our hotel. So fun and so relaxing.

On the agenda for tomorrow: Topkapi Palace, an archaeological museum, back to the Grand Bazaar for some shopping and then off on a ferry ride to the Asian side of Istanbul for a view of the Bosphorus Strait and dinner on another continent. All in a day’s work for the Traveling Scholar & Co.

See you kiddos tomorrow with some new adventures and equally amazing pictures!

For more pictures from Turkey, check out my photo album.

xoxo,

Good morning from Istanbul! After two hours in the airport, a three and a half hour plane ride, getting a visa (mandatory in Turkey) and shuttle busing it to our hotel, we’re here! It’s still early and we have a lot of sightseeing to do today (Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, Grand Bazaar and Egyptian Spice Bazaar) but I have to give a shout out to Turkish Airlines!

I don’t know if anyone has flown with them before, but if you haven’t, it’s a must! I have never had a more comfortable flight in my life. Each seat was equipped with a video screen and headphones. There were movies (not one or two; there were around twenty new releases to pick from!), video games to play with the built in controller and email/SMS to check. On top of that, the food was actually pretty Grade A for an airline!

Our hotel room isn’t the biggest room I’ve ever seen, but we do get internet and breakfast included in the stellar deal we got so we’re not complaining! Plus, we can see the Blue Mosque from the breakfast nook. You win some, you lose some.

Off to breakfast and to do some sightseeing!

Catch up with you later,

Eerrr… wait. No, they’re not 11.

They’re like 17. SEVENTEEN?!

When did kids born in 1993 get to be SEVENTEEN?! Holy shit. My little sister who I still tend to think is seven is actually going to be 20!

Oh Lord… where has the time gone? When did I get old?

Ugggh.

Al & I are flying Turkish Airlines which we’re both a little too excited about. I think the thought of not flying Ryan Air/EasyJet is a novel one for us right now. Not that there’s anything wrong with Easy Jet, mind you (I’m a big fan), but it’s nice to be able to take a real suitcase and not have to worry about extra charges. Like I said, I’m excited about shopping. And buying goodies and trying to somehow stuff them in an already-too-small carry-on is not my idea of fun. My suitcase is entirely too large, but I’m okay with that.

In any case, the plan of attack for today:

It’s 930A, and I’m heading to the gym right now for a morning workout before three days of no gym access. After I get home and finish packing, I’m meeting Al at Covent Garden Station at around 130P so we can hop on the Piccadilly line and ride it straight to Heathrow! Side note: this is one of my favorite things about flying out of Heathrow — the tube goes straight there! Unlike Gatwick/Stansted/Luton where you have to find an alternate form of transportation, the tube is easy, cheap and gives us an hour to read/get some work done.

Our flight doesn’t leave until late afternoon so we won’t be getting in to Turkey until late; about 10P their time. We’ve arranged for a shuttle to come swoop us up from Ataturk Airport and take us directly to our awesome hotel! The views from this place are pretty awesome — seeing the Blue Mosque from your window is pretty authentic. We’ll probably take tonight to just relax and sort out our plans for the next three days, but this weekend is sure to be amazing!

Gotta get to the gym — catch up with you guys when I get to Istanbul!

xoxo,

Blue Mosque, Istanbul

Two days until Turkey and I feel like I’m finally getting excited about it! Between the papers, the readings, the studying and all of the other school work that I’ve been smothered in, I didn’t have time to properly get psyched.

Now I’m getting psyched.

Two days. Two short days until take-off! Now that I’m finally putting some real thought into it, I looked over Time Out’s Top 20 list of things to do and see in Istanbul and it’s packed! We’re clearly not going to have time to explore everything on the list in three short days, but it has definitely helped me construct a little list of my own.

My top things to do and see whilst in Turkey:

1. Hit up the Grand Bazaar: How much more Turkish can you get than the Grand Bazaar? Haggling for random trinkets and snagging unique gifts are possibly my two favorite things.

2. Kick it Asian-style: Take a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul just to say that I’ve been to Asia (plus to see the cultural differences). Maybe for a dinner date.

3. Enjoy some authentic hookah: I’m not a smoker, but hookah is one of my favorite things to indulge in on a relaxing vacay. Apple is my most favorite, but I’m down to explore some Turkish specialties!

4. Check out the mosques: You can’t go to Istanbul and not see the amazing (and plentiful) mosques! We’re right across the street from the Blue Mosque (can literally see it from our hotel window). I’m so excited to see it up close!

5. Check out the Egyptian Spice Bazaar: Since I’ve seen pictures of this place, I’ve been dying to see it!

6. Enjoy Turkish cuisine: By Turkish cuisine, I mean eat as much hummus and babaganoush as humanly possible and snag some Turkish Delight to bring home for my post-Lent dessert indulgence. Mmmmm!

A girlfriend of mine already sent me a list of must-sees from her trip to Istanbul! Does anyone else have any recommendations for places that are unforgettable?

xoxo,

A few years ago, one of my girlfriends, G., gave me something amazingly touching for my birthday. I had issues, as most women in their late teens/early twenties do, with self-esteem, knowing where I was going in life (who am I kidding, I still have that issue!), and being able to accept God-given tenacity and capability as something worth holding on to. She gave me a frame decorated with pictures of us and a piece of paper with a quote sitting where the picture normally would be (G. is a ridiculously creative woman, so my description of this masterpiece isn’t doing it justice). The following quote was inside of the frame:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we’re liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.”

At the time, I found it touching, profound and fitting for the time in my life. I woke up this morning, randomly thinking about that frame and that quote and realized that at some point, perhaps I took that message to heart. I’m still in the process of making it a reality, mind you, but it’s important to persevere and push yourself to greatness. Not achieving the success that you’re capable of serves no one. You let yourself down, you let down the people who know your ability, and you let humanity down. When you let yourself be amazing and embrace that for what it is, it’s an inspiration to other people. I find myself looking up to these people who have had a profound impact through achieving their flavor of greatness and it makes me realize that their ability to achieve acts as a source of inspiration for everyone else; for all the little neophytes of amazingness roaming the world. Certainly, we should push ourselves, because who knows… one day, we might be the inspiration for others that we currently seek for ourselves.

Some of my inspirations (aside from my amazing family, of course):

Nelson Mandela: For passion, courageousness and zest for life despite life's hardships

Gregor Mendel: the father of Mendelian genetics; for thinking out-of-the-box and pushing boundaries.

Bill & Melinda Gates: Generous people that see the world for more than just themselves.

Dambisa Moyo: not for her theories, but for her ability to embrace her intelligence, wit, beauty and femininity.

Who are you inspired by?

To try and help get rid of my headache and the overall disgustingness of a hangover, I called my parents for a much-needed family Skype sesh (one of my favorite Sunday activities). After teetering on the edge of death (or what felt like it, at least) I needed some parental love to help me feel a bit better. This is the roughly the beginning of our Skype conversation:

Shannon: Hey, dad…
Dad: Hey, Shan. Whoa, you look…. tired. And pale.
Shannon: Yeah, I feel like sh*t. I spent the whole night throwing up and I don’t have the energy to get up but I want to make some soup.
Dad: Oh, no… are you sick?
Shannon: Eh, no. Kind of. Dad, I drank waaaaaay too much. At nearly 24, how do I not know when enough’s enough? Uggh!
Dad: Well, you never really drink so your body can’t take much.

[Mom enters the scene.]

Mom: Hey Shan… whoa! Did you get the license plate?
Shannon: Huh? The license plate?
Mom: Yeah, of the truck that ran you over!

Hahahahaahah. Thanks, momma bear!

I love my parents. It’s stuff like this that makes me want to go back to California <3.

So, I went with a couple of girlfriends last night to see Invictus at the Odeon. I’m not 100% sure what I expected, but whatever it was, the movie definitely exceeded my expectations. The couldn’t have cast the film better! It was so spot on, and the poem (the movie’s namesake) is amazing and inspiring so I thought I’d share it here for everyone else to read.

[William Ernest Henley]

I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.
I think that’s something that we would all do well to keep in mind.

My life as a grad student has opened my heart to iTunes.

I should backtrack a touch. I have always used iTunes for my iPhone and/or iPod, but I never really purchased stuff from iTunes. I was always a pirate; I was a LimeWire user who downloaded every song under the sun for free and then uploaded them into my iTunes database. As fate would have it, however, LSE blocks LimeWire (and every other illegal downloading app, I’m sure) and I’m now unable to violate intellectual property rights on a daily basis. Being that I need new music, I started using iTunes and I discovered the wonderful world of iTunes U and TV SHOWS! I’m not a big TV watcher (never have been), but I have a tendency to get uber-bored whilst ellipticalizing at the gym. After 30 or so minutes you get into the elliptical groove and just move sort of robotically, but I need to keep my mind going and my energy up and I typically need some stimulation to make that happen. The answer: music or TV!

Since I discovered downloading seasons of TV shows, I’ve become kind of hooked. I can’t do it very often because they’re kind of pricey, but it’s so nice having TV shows on hand! I recently downloaded the entire season of Private Practice (to complement my Grey’s) and have been watching an episode during every trip to the gym! I also downloaded a bunch of university lectures on HIV/AIDS (they’re all free!) and have been listening to those intermittenly while working out (much more exciting than it sounds). Before I know it, 45 minutes or an hour have passed and I’ve worked up a much-needed sweat! Plus, I made a deal with myself: no watching Private Practice unless I’m at the gym. Since I paid $35 for the season, I use them as a weird incentive. If I want to see the next episode of Private Practice/Gossip Girl/Grey’s/Keeping up with the Kardashians (keep that one on the DL), I have to watch it at the gym and get my exercise in! Bizarrely enough, it works! It seriously incentives me.

On that note… is anyone else ridiculously pumped for the new episode of Gossip Girl on Monday?! I have been waiting for this!!