adventure diary: day two

before i went on my trip, i painted a bunch of pages in a new moleskine journal.  then each day i’d collect my tickets stubs, receipts and various little treasures and stick them into my travel journal and write about what i did that day.  i really enjoyed this process of travel journaling.  it helped me to absorb the many amazing experiences i was having.

now that i am back, my travel journal also helps me to remember the details of my trip more clearly.  i am sharing those journal pages here, along with some of my photographs and stories of my adventures.  you can find  my adventure diary from day one here.

page two of my travel journal has a map of istanbul in a brochure from the hammam i went to, and an ode to turkish tea.it was day two in istanbul that i fell in love with turkish tea.  i did end up buying a kilo of it later in the grand bazaar to keep enjoying it at home – but i bought loose tea.  i am still experimenting with how much tea to use to get the absolutely perfectly deliciously heavenly tea that is everywhere in turkey.   the tea has a unique flavour to it that just blows me away.  and they serve it in small, gorgeous glasses:

no paper cups!  no walking with tea, or coffee!  you sit down and enjoy it.  and it comes with really small sugar cubes.  i’m sure i’ll talk more about the tea as i tell the stories of what i did in turkey.

day two in istanbul, i woke up with no idea that i was about to have the best breakfast of my life.  (and i have had some really good breakfasts!)  i climbed up the narrow and windy stairs up to the rooftop terrace and thought about how, in canada, we would have safety railings on those stairs.  (i later discovered that there are LOTS OF PLACES in both turkey and egypt that could use safety railings and maybe canadians are just babies about safety)  i got upstairs and was amazed at the breakfast spread and the terrace itself and the view of the sea and the asian coast.  it was a lot to take in all at once.  this is where i sat every morning:

and you can see the outdoor part of the terrace over on the left.  i was there in the off season – i can only imagine how amazing this place is in the summer.  but the enclosed part had windows for walls and ceilings and was still pretty incredible.

after that, we went to the grand bazaar.  now i am reading this in my travel journal, and my photos show that it is true, but honestly cannot remember this.  it seems insane to go straight for the grand bazaar without getting used to istanbul first.  the grand bazaar is over 4,000 stalls all under one roof… of many roofs attached together really.  with courtyards and wandering alleys.  with everyone trying to get your attention and sell you something.  there is no way of going in there and not getting overwhelmed and lost. (but there are entrances and exists everywhere so you can always find an exit, go outside, and then try to figure out where you are now.)

the shopping was fantastic.  on that trip i bought a really beautiful pashmina (the first of many…).

the walk to and from the grand bazaar was so interesting, like all of istanbul.  this became one of my favourite buildings:

this picture is close to the entrance to the grand bazaar.  it wasn’t until a few days later that i realised that the domed building on the right is the hammam i ended up in later that day:

then we went to topkapi palace where i took a LOT of photos.  (i am not posting all of my trip photos here, you can find them on my flickr – i have them in three sets – istanbul, cairo/giza and cappadocia)  i really loved wandering around this palace and pretending to be a sultan.

the palace was a series of buildings and courtyards – really interesting design and it all seemed to get more elaborate the further i went in.

and at the end it looked out over the bospherous:

i took what i thought were amazing photos there… but then the next day when on a cruise of the bospherus and got much better photos of the coasts.

we found a really cute and delicious restaurant for lunch.  at that point i was still so happy and surprised to really really love all the food i ate.  once i’d been there a few days i realised – all the food is just amazing in turkey.  it’s fresh and local.

by then we felt we’d earned ourselves a trip to the hammam.  here is a close-up of the hammam in my travel journal, with the woman lying on a marble slab in a domed room with little windows in the ceiling with light shining through… well that’s exactly where i lay down and relaxed and it was completely amazing.  the marble is hot and the room is steamy.  there’s a warm pool and a hot pool off to the side – the pools even had hundreds-year-old domed ceilings.  so amazing.

too tired for dinner or anything else, i walked back to the hotel slowly (most of the walk was uphill and i am used to walking on flat ground) and had another great night’s sleep.

andrea schroeder creates creativity workshops, downloadable creativity kits, art and guided meditations to support you in knowing and remembering that you are a creative being and you can create anything.

If you like this post, you may also like:

• adventure diary: days four and five
• adventure diary: day three
• adventure diary: egypt
• adventure diary: day one
• Taking that first step…

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Tagged as: adventure, istanbul, travel journal