Turkey

Hat tip to long-time EmilyStyle insider, Katie, for the suggestion to pack a black maxi dress on this trip. This is one of my favorite outfits from the carry-on bag so far! I wrapped a light chambray tuxedo blouse over the black maxi dress and belted it. Underneath, black tights for warmth and flat black…

Rob and I went to the Hagia Sophia this morning. A massive and so beautiful…place?  It’s hard to think of the right word for a Greek Orthodox basilica founded in 532 that was then turned into a mosque and that is now a museum.  Regardless, the Hagia Sophia is my favorite thing we’ve seen in…

No descriptions here, just a few favorite photos from among the dozens I took at Topkapi Palace today. No matter where you looked up at the Palace, there was some kind of ornately painted, tiled, carved and/or gilded decoration. Most of these are from the private apartments of the Sultan and his harem.

Today’s adventure: Topkapi Palace, the largest and oldest palace in the world, where the Ottoman Empire’s Sultans lived for over 400 years. First, we had to walk through our cute hipster Galata Tower neighborhood… ….across the bustling waterfront and through the spice market. The crowds at Topkapi were massive, even this early in the morning…

Last year, a local man decided to beautify the cement steps in his Istanbul neighborhood. He took 4 days and $800 in paint to create a rainbow staircase that instantly became a must-see destination in Istanbul. When the city painted the steps gray, residents came out to paint it back to bright colors the next day. Now, there…

Day two means the jetlag is getting progressively worse (5:00 am call to prayer wake-ups aren’t helping) and we are also probably at the worse point of our head colds.  Plus, it’s rainy and cold. But today is Rob’s birthday! Adventures can’t wait. Yesterday was all about old Istanbul. Today was about the new. We…

It still doesn’t seem real, but here we are in Istanbul!  After a long flight and a brief stop in Germany, Rob and I arrived Sunday evening at an airport bustling with young men in trim suits, women in headscarfs and lots of smokers. We had dinner of schwarmas and freshly squeezed pomegranate juice sitting…

Guys…I have no idea if I’m packing the right things for our eight week trip to Turkey, Greece and Croatia. It’s going to be late March and pretty cold when we arrive. My standard European scarf and blazer combo seems a little formal for the Mediterranean. Plus, I want to try to take as little…

Our year of travel adventures continues!  Rob and I just booked tickets into Turkey in late March and out of Croatia in mid-May. The plan is to wind our way from Istanbul through Greece and up to Croatia – with a mountain bike in tow.  We’ll be working remotely and staying in apartments during the…