"Istanbul is beautiful." - Jonathan
"It's like New York here." - Louis
"This is where Asia kisses Europe." - Jonas
"The Adana has changed my life." - Theo

So much for our impressions of this beautiful city on the Bosphorus. With Çay and good humour we spent a lot of time on various ferries, very meditative, sometimes nauseating, always somehow beautiful. After the long journey, it's good to be in one place for a change. 
​​​​​​Our travel group is growing steadily, with Theo, Anna, Anja and Jonathan's friends from the Erasmus semester joining us. Together we sink into the city, its nightlife and the Prince's Islands. It becomes a little hard to get down and discuss the coming weeks, which will come back to haunt us later. But while we're there, all that fades into the background.

We feast our way through the city. Jonathan sometimes doesn't explain exactly what we ate until afterwards. It's better that way. Brain in soup looks like garlic at first, so you don't think so much and just enjoy. Maybe our foodie Theo will write a bit more about our food adventures.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Much to Louis' chagrin, we go from mosque to mosque these days - one bigger than the other. Fun Fact: There are only three mosques in Turkey with six minarets. By the end of this trip we will have seen them all.
​​​​​​​After Jonathan's birthday night, we head to the last tourist stop: the newly opened Citadel. Nice and cool down there, very good for the alcohol-heavy head. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​