Turkish Escape

Last Weekend we went on a quick get-away to Istanbul, Turkey.  It was a super short trip but SO NICE to feel cooler weather and have some fun on a new adventure! 

We flew out of Abu Dhabi early Friday morning… it was a 4.5 hour flight so we were there in plenty of enough time to enjoy some sites after we arrived that afternoon.  After we checked into the hotel we jumped in a taxi and started to explore the “old city.”   Istanbul is so charming~

The famous Blue Mosque is pictured below:

due to our super short time, we chose not to go inside and spend our afternoon just strolling the streets and enjoying the super cool weather.  The highs were in the low 70’s.. coming from 110 degree weather, it was AMAZING!  We walked over to check out the underground Basilica Cistern.  VERY COOL!

The kids loved spotting the fish!  I remember seeing this place on the Bachelorette (when it was Ali and Frank’s one on one date) – they had dinner in here and ever since I saw the city on the show, I wanted to visit.

When we left there, we spotted a café near a grassy area where the kids could run around a bit and sat down for some dinner.  My guys were checking out the menu…

 

After we left dinner, we walked around some more and just took in the sites.

ahh! DESSERT! I popped in here for some baklava on our way back to the hotel. DELICIOUS!

Here is the view of the city from our room:

The buildings go on and on for as far as you can see.  I booked a Bosphorus boat tour for early the next morning… Here was our tour guide – he was about to drop us off at the Egyptian spice market. 

 

Such a cool market with LOTS to look at… I bought some little hand painted bowls in bright colors and Charles got us a cute little, silver Turkish tea set.  The kids scored some candy and we had to be back on the bus to get to the boat dock. 

 

Notice the map above ^^ The Bosphorus is the strip of water between the continents of Europe and Asia.  BOTH sides are Turkey.

We are loaded up on the boat and ready to go! 

We went down the Europe side, did a u-turn and came back up on the Asia side…

We toughed out the cold for a  while, but was absolutely freezing, so we went down inside the boat and bought some hot tea and warmed up.  Cheers!

The kids wanted to go back out again… Charles snapped a picture of us while we were outside the boat looking in on him.

After the boat tour we went back to the hotel to empty our backpack, grab some McD’s and head back out for some fun in the Grand Bazaar.  This place was absolutely HUGE – and after an hour (having not even put barely a dent in it) we called it quits… Charles found a great leather belt and I got some really bright colored, hand embroidered pillow cases.  We also bought a Christmas ornament since we collect them from all of our travels.

I could have done a lot more damage in this painted pottery place, but unfortunately, we have zero place to store any of this fun stuff in our villa. so sad~!  We only lasted about an hour and a half in the Bazaar – it was SUPER crowded.. we decided to leave there and go to another super crowded place. LOL. We went to Taksim Square – it was jam packed like Burbon St. on Mardi Gras.  We were in search of some dinner and had to walk quite a while until we found something.  On our journey, we learned that this  night they had the biggest soccer game of the year and everyone was out to celebrate. 

On our super brisk walk, I got some major cramping in my baby bump… I could barely walk. We thought maybe it would go away after I ate dinner – but when that didn’t do the trick we headed back to the hotel asap.   Unfortunately there was no catching a cab in this thick crowd so we walked another mile or so back to the hotel. That walk was brutal! I was in some major discomfort by now – but within 10 minutes of laying down I was all better. whew.  I had never had any aches & pains like that in either of my previous pregnancies…honestly, it was a little scary.  This 3rd time my body just won’t allow my to go and go.  I had just simply over done it. 

The next morning we just laid low and took the kids to the park until it was time to catch our flight back to Abu Dhabi.  Istanbul was a beautiful city – had a very European feel to it with amazing temperatures.  I loved it and would go back in a minute! 

After my little ‘episode’ I was reminded how important it is to take care of myself and get adequate rest – I would just be devastated if  I was put on bed rest and couldn’t travel to the states.  For the next couple of weeks I’m TAKING IT EASY!  Charles is more concerned of me pushing the  limit when I’m in the USA – and would risk not being able to come back to AD for the beginning of the school year & delivery… I assured him I will have lots of eager hands for helping with the kids and we’ll be fine.  The day after I got back I was already scheduled for a check up and my doctor did not see any cause for concern and agreed that I had just over done it.  Baby girl is healthy and growing. 

Since then I’ve had milder, but similar cramping pains twice – both were after times of just going and going and not getting enough rest. {sigh}. my head says go, but my body says STOP!