Hey guys, today was one of the best days for me so far. When I woke up this morning I was prepared to be on the bus for at least 45 minutes but low and behold it was only 15 minutes. So I got lucky. The first part of our day started out at Dolmabahce Palace which is one of the most beautiful palaces in the world. This palace reminded me of a story out of a fairytale book. The money and craftsmanship that was put into the design of this place is incredible.

The walls and the ceilings are embedded with over two tons of gold. Some of the chandlers weighed up to almost 4 tons. One interesting fact that I found out was that the women were not allowed into the main palace and the men were not allowed into Harem where the females resided. Another fact that caught my attention was that none of the sultan’s wives were Turkish. All of them came from other nationalities, which was different. Some were Persian, African but majority of them were Russian.

The second part of our day brought us to a boat trip. For two hours we rode around the Bosphorus enjoying the sunlight, breeze and waves. This was not only refreshing but also a stress reliever. To be able to soak in the sun and smell water and hear the boat motor as it propels through the waves is breathtaking. It is a experience that I believe everyone should have. I watched in excitement as a seagull swooped down into the water looking for fish. If it was up to me I would be on that boat everyday. High hopes, maybe one day. Until tomorrow