The Road to Istanbul

Well, we have enjoyed our first weekend in Istanbul settling in to our dorm and exploring our neighborhood.  

Here follows a few snapshots of our travels through Western Europe:

 Our first destination was Berlin.  While we were there we were struck by all of the history that has taken place in this city.  Here we are near Checkpoint Charlie in front of a fragment of the Berlin Wall.

We then headed to Braunschweig to visit Jacky!!  So much fun.  It was neat to see what a German student's life looks like.  She was a fabulous hostess and friend, and even sacrificed sleep and got up at 1am to drive us (partly on the Autobahn) to Hamburg for our ridiculously early flight. Ha. 

Next up: our favorite city we visited on the trip. Salzburg!  As you can see, it is stunningly beautiful!  This was a fun overlook, and we even walked from here to the fortress in the background of this picture.

What is Salzburg known for you ask?  Why, The Sound of Music of course!  And yes. We did go on the official Sound of Music tour!  It was wonderful.  One of the best parts was getting to drive out into the countryside to some cute villages and breathtaking lake and mountain views.  Breathtaking!

Ha.  We weren't the only sightseers apparently!  Here you see a traditionally dressed group posing in front of one of the fountains featured in The Sound of Music.  It was pretty great :) 

One of our favorite mornings was picking us some delicious pastries at a local bäckerei, and going to eat them by the river.  Beth especially loved all the bäckereis and cafes around the city.  Shannon got caught eating an Austrian cinnamon roll.  Mmmm.

Who would like to come sit and enjoy a lovely view of Zurich?  It was another beautiful city, and we especially enjoyed the churches and cathedrals here.  Ha, our most interesting hostel experience was definitely here.

Mmmm, macarons!  These delectable little treats were Beth's favorite by far!  So much so that after finishing the first round, we went back to get more :)

All in all, we really enjoyed our travels and adventures!  Now that we are in Istanbul though, we are really glad to be in one place for a while and are ready to jump in to life here as more than just a tourist.

This is what we get to look at as we walk from our dorm to the main campus.  The beautiful Bosphorus! It is almost hard to believe that we are finally here.

Tomorrow we start our registration and orientation processes with Bogazici University.  

Here is where the adventure really begins.

~Beth and Shannon