Ok, ok, ok.

Updating is hard when you are so busy doing stuff!

This might be a little bit of a copout, but for now I am going to do short updates of what we have done in Istanbul with Wikipedia links for if you want to know more about it.

(Currently in Cairo. The Marriott here is incredible... biggest Marriott in the world, used to be a palace, and very nice. Also: my leg is unexplainably numb- if anyone has any information on numb leg inducing things in Egypt, let me know. I hope it's not from drinking out of the Nile... jk, jk.)

The Blue Mosque
possibly my favorite site in Istanbul. Mosques are so spectacular and this one is really breathtaking.

Haghia Sophia
still debating whether or not I should own up to the fact that we actually never got inside. The outside is really amazing, though parts were being repaired. The inside looks really amazing and it is obvously very unique being a Christian church converted into a mosque.

We went to a Turkish cultural dance and it was really cool. The costumes were incredibly ornate and it was a history of all different types of Turkish dances.

Dolmabahce Palace
Absolutely mind-blowing. Definitely the most ornate palace I have ever seen. It was like a constant stream of visual overload. From hand laid decorative wooden floors made from three types of wood to chandeliers weighing up to 4.5 tons... so spectacular.

LDS Church
I don't entirely know all the details, but from what I understand people in Istanbul cannot be baptized into the LDS church. I know there is religious freedom there, but I guess I don't know what that entails. We met the clerk for the branch out front of a building and we took a tiny elevator up. Each meeting was in Turkish and English. Sacrament meeting had about 35 people there. Each speaker would say a line and then a translator would translate into the other language. I may write more on this later... it was a very cool experience to say the least.

Basilica Cistern
This place was one of Dad's favorite's. It really was amazing. As we were walking in I heard someone ask 'Is this the underground palace?' I kind of laughed to myself, but once we were down there it actually made sense. It was really cool being under the streets of Istanbul surrounded by rows and rows of incredible pillars.

Topkapi Palace
Another incredible palace. TOO much to see. There was also some really cool art displays here. The Harem was especially cool.

Bosphorus Cruise
This was really fun. We went up to northern Istanbul on a cruise boat. The mansions we passed were incredible. I told my dad that it was the Newport Harbor of Istanbul. A lot of the places here could even put Newport to shame. So crazy.

I will update more later, but Turkey was really cool. All of the people were really nice and we had a great time even with running into a few travel problems. :D

Ok, coming soon: pictures, details, etc.