day 7 + 8: *insert clever bazaar/bizarre pun here*

it was finally beautiful outside yesterday so we decided to head to Taksim for a little stroll and trip to the Grand Bazaar with some new friends. doorknob got left behind because he slept in late so that's completely his own fault and I take 0 responsibility. but he was sorely missed for the first part of our day.... I suppose

it rained lightly for about an hour once we got to Taksim after an hour-long bus ride so we took shelter in an extremely fancy Starbucks located 2 shops down from another fancy Starbucks...... ah, the sweet sweet smell of Home

After strolling around for a bit, and purchasing some postcards, we decided to eat lunch at a local restaurant that was on the more expensive side but totally worth it! I forget the name of the place lol sorry I'm the worst at this blogging thing

then we headed over to the Grand Bazaar to meet up with some other people and although it was a bit confusing at first to find them sans communication, we ended up together. the bazaar itself is pretty crazy, and at first expensive, but if you play your cards right, you can walk away with a beautiful print for just 10 lira, dropped down from 85. I should have bought it when I had the chance but I'm sure this isn't our last trip to the bazaar!

getting home from the Grand Bazaar was quite the adventure. took us one metro, two buses, and two long hours.... *side eye* but we made it back safe! Kyle cooked up a huge ass pot of pesto pasta which we scarfed down quickly so that we could head over to To Stage for beer pong with the other exchange students... I didn't win so I brought great shame to my country but neither did Karolina, Kyle, or Durant, so it's F I N E

selcuk also joined us at the bar and he was a big HIT amongst the locals! he also took us (emily, durant, kyle, emily's roomie) to a restaurant afterward and made us order a hot dog thing stuffed with questionable meat and pickles....... and then we passed out at around 2 am : - )

I didn't take a lot of good pictures today / I'm lazy and don't want to upload any / but we went to the Blue Mosque today and it was absolutely stunning. I feel like this won't be my last time there either so there will be more on that later (or on durant, kyle, karolina's posts). Anyway, after the blue mosque, we came home and cooked up a nice dinner with new friends Lorenzo and Chris..... and watched Kill Bill over bottles of shitty wine.... I loved every minute

BYE