London

So I finally made it to London! It was such a wonderful Christmas break- thank you so much Karyn and family!
I loved just hanging out at their house and taking it easy. We went to the temple the first day, which was awesome. I love going to the temple, especially since I only get to go a couple times a year if I'm lucky. The London temple was really pretty and in such a pretty setting. We didn't have time to really walk around the grounds but it is beautiful. That evening Karyn and I met up with her mum and a friend for a Christmas Carols concert at St Martin-in-the-Fields, this really great old church in the middle of London. The concert was fabulous and very Christmasy. There were parts where the congregation was asked to sing along and apparently we were sat next to a few professionally trained singers- they really belted it out and were amazing.
Christmas Eve we went into London and watched Les Miserables which was so fun. I mean, the show is depressing but it was fun to go to the theater in London. I had never seen Les Mis on stage. Christmas was lovely. Super yummy Christmas dinner complete with a Christmas cracker- very British. :) Boxing Day was spent with Terry's family and again we had a nice meal and great company. I really just loved hanging out with family for the holidays- even if I had to borrow the family. Apparently I didn't take any pictures of this- sorry.
The following day Karyn and I headed into London again to do this Hidden City scavenger hunt. I had done something similar in San Francisco with my friends Jeannie and Toshi. Basically we were sent different clues via text. We had to find the answers in certain locations, text the answer back, then receive the next clue. It was so much fun. This version was better than the San Fran version because this one required that we interact with people more. We had to go into different pubs and places and tell them, "The Queen has sent me," and then the worker would give us something for our next clue. We could tell there were a few groups a little behind us on the hunt and it seems it's pretty popular. It was really awesome. I'm so glad that Karyn and a couple of her friends were willing to try it with me. After that Karyn and I went on an open top city bus tour of the Christmas lights. I was a really fun and wonderful day. I had such a fantastic time over my winter break.
The next day I was off to Paris. It was such a lovely time and I will definitely need to go back!

Right outside their house is this holly tree. 

I thought it was festivily appropriate

London LDS Temple

This was my first view of Big Ben- we walked out of the subway and this is what I saw. Hello London!

I love Big Ben with the double decker red buses- very London. 

And of course- the red phone booths.

We couldn't take pictures during the performance, but this is where is was in St. Martin's

We thought it was funny that I was sitting on a bench that was marked with this from "American friends" 

St. Martin's

This is St. Martin's from the outside. (taken on a different day) The middle arched window is the window in the previous photo with the red and green lights and the empty chairs. 

Awesome sweets! I LOVE marshmallow and chocolate. 

My London theater experience. :) 

Trafalgar Square. That Christmas tree is a gift every year from... Norway I think. 

Very British (and yummy) Christmas dinner. 

Just taking the tube around the city. :) 

Where our hunt began. 

A little token we got when we told them, "The Queen has sent us." 

LDS chapel downtown- pretty cool.

We lost A LOT of time here because 4 grown women couldn't figure out our right from our left for about 15 mins. 

At this pub we were given this book to look for our clue when I told the guy, "The Queen has sent me."

We walked down these cute little neighborhoods. 

Kitty!

This is where Will and Kate live when they are in London... I think.

Another cute pub we had to stop at. 

Some cool church we walked past. 

Our final clue was hidden in these letters at the final pub we stopped at. 

Once we figured it out we were rewarded with chocolate. 

The bus for our city lights tour. That's the amazing Karyn next to the bus. 

Christmas lights. 

More Christmas lights. 

Turkey

** so I started writing this over a month ago. I guess better late than never. I've been busy!

Back in August, I was invited by my friend Karyn to come stay with them in London for Christmas. I looked into the flights and found a really cheap airline that would take me from Kuwait to London, then Paris back to Kuwait (at Christmas and New Years time) for only $500. Heck yeah! While booking the flight I also noticed that I could have a 14 hour layover (7am-9pm) in Istanbul. I had friends who had gone into the city on layovers so I decided to add a third country to my trip.

When I first arrived in Turkey I regretted my decision. There are two airports in Istanbul and one- the one I was flying into- is rather far from the city. At first I tried to just hire a guide/tour so I didn't have to deal with figuring out where to go and how to get there. Most of what I found was more than I wanted to pay. When I found one that would work, he added another $90 when he found out what airport I was flying into. He also acted like it was my fault because I didn't tell him before and I responded that actually it's his fault because he should have asked. Why would I know that airport is a problem?

The other reason I was regretting it is because I was TIRED! It's almost impossible to find flights outside the Gulf region that fly out of Kuwait (and often into Kuwait as well) at a decent hour. My flight left at 3 or 4am, meaning I had to be at the airport 1or 2 am. I tried to nap, but basically I was up all day and all night before heading into town. blurg!

You can check your luggage at the airport- they have luggage storage places for a small fee. I didn't want to see a ton, but I knew I wanted to see the Blue Mosque and maybe a couple more things. Luckily there are a few things all in the same area. The Blue Mosque, The Cisterns, and Hagia Sophia are all pretty much in this square and they are all really amazing. The mix of cultures and the detail and artistry of everything was just really beautiful.

There is also a Turkish Bath right there too and I was smart enough to have a nice bath and massage while I was there. It was perfect! I had the whole super big and beautiful bath to myself. It reminded me of the prefects bath in Harry Potter. And a massage was just what I needed since I was so tired and exhausted.

I made it back to the airport for my 9:20 flight to London no problem. Shortly after my flight left apparently Kurdish rebels attacked the airport (and same airline I was on) with mortars killing one person. Then about two weeks later ISIS was blamed for a deadly bombing that killed 10 tourists right in the square that I visited. :(

So sad and so scary. Can't we all just get along so we can travel and see all these amazing places?!

Check out how cool this was- the fare for the taxi is digitally displayed in the rearview mirror.
It was so much easier to know how much the fare was. 

Selling kebabs in the middle of traffic- yum! I'm sure that meets health standards. 

The taxi driver dropped me in the right neighborhood but not the right spot- lazy jerk.
This is Yeni Cami, or New Mosque, from what I can tell. New as in complete in 1665 new. 

Yeni Cami.

Cool street lights.

Festive bike with cool buildings. Not in Kuwait anymore. 

A sweet shop I passed. 

Chestnuts-- seemed fitting for the season. 

This is Hagia Sophia at sunset. This place was stunning.  

This couple made me laugh- love it!

This place has been everything. Greek Orthodox Cathedral (537-1204), Roman Catholic Cathedral (1204-1261), back to Greek Orthodox Cathedral (1261-1453), Imperial Mosque (1453-1931), and finally a museum. 

They painted over the faces of the angles when it was a mosque. 

They were working to restore it and had two faces revealed. 

The mix of Christian and Islam was pretty cool. 

Look at all the different stones! Beautiful! 

It's hard to tell but that thing at the bottom was a mirror so when you were walking out you noticed the painting behind. 

Baptismal area. 

kitty! 

The Cisterns- built in 532. This place was pretty cool. 

It was constructed using 336 columns- many salvaged from ruined temples.
There's carp in the water. 

Medusa heads. 

The square where everything is. That's Hagia Sophia in the middle, the Cisterns were just to the left and underground, and the Blue Mosque is to the right. The tourist bombing was just to the left in this picture I think.

The Blue Mosque. You can't walk into this building without being solicited several times to buy a carpet. 

Apparently I didn't take that many pictures in here and they all looked the same.
It was still really beautiful and the detail is amazing. 

Can't really take pics in a Turkish bath but this was the cute little kit I got. :)