Happiness

On our way to the airport - Aug 2014

As I sit here – organizing all of my photos from this incredible experience – I can’t help but feel happy.

Happiness is something we all strive for in the end – isn’t it?

This was the type of experience that puts my entire life into perception. Opening a new world of curiousness. What an experience of a lifetime. Filled with gratitude.  I have to explain it from start to finish. Brace yourself – tons of info and photos after the jump. This trip was a go-go trip and we had a lot to do in a week.

This trip has been close to two years in the making. We set that time frame; we really put it out there and went to really celebrate. It’s been one of the most memorable years of my life - taking on everything I’ve been dreaming about. If I died tomorrow, unexpectedly – god forbid, I’d feel that I died - living.

For the entire trip details and photo - click READ MORE below

Day 1.

 

Life was utterly amazing and a complete surprise over there. We arrived after a 10hr flight direct from Montreal to Istanbul. Flying domestic was a breeze. They had massage chairs in the airport. How thoughtful. After an hour flight with Turkish Airlines - We made our way to Cappadocia – my bestie had arranged the pickups.

When we pull up to our cave hotel, Doors of Cappadocia, we are completely mesmerized by this view of beauty. I now understand the name of the hotel. We were right in town and decided to drop our bags and see what was going on. It was a town filled with fairy chimneys. Aladdin, I’m home. Apparently I’ve had a thing for dark haired men for a while now (of course with baby blues, Michael).

Doors of Cappadocia Hotel - Cappadocia

We always become BFF with our concierge (they know what’s up). We heard our first prayer over the speakers that were in every mosque. We ate at a local Restaurant called My Mothers and found a corner store to take back a bottle of wine to our courtyard (check out my photos on my Instagram).This was the quietest place I had ever been to. Our concierge would check in every now and then to make sure we weren’t causing mayhem. Our first hot air balloon ride was set for a pick up time at 5am the following morning. We went to bed a 2am due to the time change.

Day 2.

After being fed and realizing we might have been a tad hungover, we arrived to the park for take off. A balloon ride and food – really makes us happy. All I could think of was don’t get sick up in the sky. I was able to snap this incredible picture and witness the sunrise. Being an early riser back home - I was more than happy to take this view in.

From the moment we arrived to the moment we pull up – we were at a loss for words. It completely took our breath away. These are the moments in life that people talk about. The moments that are risk worthy and to the person who created the hot air balloon; I love you. While on the hot air balloon ride – hearing our instructor explain everything you can imagine – he mentioned he had worked on a project to travel the world in a hot air balloon for Sir Richard Branson. He had been an instructor highly reputable from the UK and flying for the last 14 years. 

We had to have multiple tries to get these shots in. Our instructor would move the balloon to make sure we could get the perfect shot. He spent more than an hour - showing us the town and explaining. 

This was by far, one of the most memorable experiences of the entire trip. I highly recommend giving it a try - any chance you can. 

Celebratory indulgence after our balloon ride! How thoughtful.

We were in a compartment of 4 by 4 on the ride, we met these cool chicks from Toronto that were in our cubby. Canadians tend to stick together. They had rented a car and were coming back from Istanbul. Impressive. Our kind of gal pals. We invited them to come hang out at our very quiet hotel by the pool. We tanned and slept. I was exhausted. 

Whitney, Kris, me and Bailey

Later on that day, we made plans to go visit a lady; Kris and I had met at the store in town (where we were buying our wine). She was Canadian and lived in one of the many fairy chimneys. We were curious about the living conditions. We asked the girls to come with. She wasn’t home and we showed up unexpected. We ended up getting into the car with the girls to search a local museum. 

We ended up going for dinner at a local hot spot, which was beautiful and delicious. We parted ways, hugged tight and wished each other an awesome adventure.

Dinner courtyard

Day 3.

The next morning, we slept in and packed our bags in a rush to head on to our next adventure. Bodrum – we were coming for you. We arrived and brought to our hotel. When we arrived, I was in love. The girliest hotel you can imagine named Ena Boutique Hotel. This was absolutely perfect. I’m really all about Boutique style anything. It was extremely hot; we switched up our outfits and hit up the boardwalk after getting recommendations from our concierge. She was young and seemed to know the good spots. The service was by far the best I had ever experienced – and I stayed at the Ritz. 

 

We arrived on the boardwalk and there were beautiful men – everywhere. Ladies, I thought Miami had good-looking men! These guys had us turning our heads in every direction. I had a sore neck from turning every chance I could. Luckily Mike and I set the standards before going – you can look but you can’t touch.

 

The shopping was awesome, the people were awesome and the food was awesome. We were steps right off the beach with the most beautiful sunsets gazing over a castle. The wicked nightlife would go until the wee hours in the morning. They pump oxygen – just like Vegas – it was 3am but did not feel like 3am. What happens in Bodrum, stays in Bodrum.

Day 4.

We took our time. Enjoyed the view, some coffee and did some sightseeing. We visited one of the 7^th wonders of the world. We visited a castle and learned more about their culture. We mingled with some locals and made some new Facebook friends. When dinner came around- as the sun was setting – we walked down to the Aegean sea to go for a quick swim and enjoy the beautiful scenery. We headed back to our cute hotel, hung by the pool and then headed to pack our bag for the next adventure. All domestic flights were about an hour each. My only thing on my to-do for this trip was seeing a sunrise and a sunset. Mission completed. Bodrum; I loved you. 

Sitting in the Queen's Chair

 

Day 5.

Welcome to Istanbul. For the next three days, we would be waking up to this view every day. Our hotel had complimentary wine hour every day from 4pm to 5pm with snacks. We stayed at the Arcadia Blue Hotel. If I had to complain about anything on this trip – it would be the rock hard mattress we slept on for the next three days. 

We tipped our bellboy five euros because he explained to us the entire city from our window in our room. After he left, we did our regular routine of dropping off our bags, changing and rushing to go sight seeing. We saw the Haghia Sophia (Aya Sophia), the blue mosque and pin pointed the Basilica Cistern to see Medusa at some point. We walked down to a shopping area where I asked a man standing if we were near the Grand Bazaar. He was so in awe with Kris, he would put his hand up and say he could not speak while she was looking at him. All I wanted was to know if we were close and we were beginning to waste time so I told Kris to turn around so the poor man could answer my question.  

 

As we were about to leave, he said; “I need to give you a gift - A gift to remember me.” Seriously, we’ve known you a full 1 minute (it was suppose to be a 20 second conversation) and all I did was ask you a simple question. He was adamant. We walked in and he said pick anything you want.

Kris was extremely polite and said no thank you. She did not want to give him the wrong impression. I began scoping out my options. She went with the smallest thing in the store to get this over with– an expensive handmade vase for flowers. He said that it was too small. At this rate, we were going to be here all night. He wasn’t going to let us leave until we took his gift. He showered Kris with two gifts and me with one. Talk about love at first sight. I had to thank Kris for taking one for the team. I really wanted that gift.

Day 6.

Seriously, with all of the sight seeing, flying and touring (not complaining) – we wanted a relax and chill day. What does a girl love most? Spa day and shopping. We spent the morning at the Grand Bazaar, which was everything it was cracked up to be. We arrived and began looking around. We had thought about getting carpets but when push came to shove – we decided to go with something smaller to bring home. It was quite the experience. We were brought into their shop, offered Turkish tea and told to relax. They brought out multiple and I mean multiple options. We were looking for throw pillows and were going to bargain for a lot of them between the both of us. They had every material, every color and every size. Not to brag but we are quite the experienced bargainers. 

Handmade Genie pants from the Grand Bazaar #twinsies

 

After a morning filled with shopping and walking away with everything we had set our eyes on in Bodrum. We were famished. We had time to kill before our Hamam appointment at 2pm. We made our way to our hotel, dropped off our goods and changed to head over to the Hamam.

We are going into a NSFW territory. When we arrived, we had done a lot of research to see what our options were. I was skeptical, not going to lie. I love my body – but to be completely exposed – that’s a different story. If I were going to get scrubbed top to bottom – I want it to be a really nice and clean place. We went to the AyaSofya Hamam. Walked in and the nerves started to kick in. It wasn’t co-ed so I am not too sure why I was so nervous. 

They gave us our wraps and shoes. Brought us to the locker and change area where we opted for a mirror selfie. Can you see the nervousness kicking in our faces? Consider this one a before photo.

 

We walk in where naked women are everywhere. We sit on a marble stone with our purple covers around us. We are given this gold bowl and asked to make sure we are wet head to toe. At this point, there is no going back. All I can do is say thank god Kris is experiencing this with me. We are both laughing awkwardly as we are throwing hot water on our bodies with our towels on.

Two women who introduce themselves greet us. My lady was very sweet and kind. I think she could feel how nervous I was, she was asking me questions and trying to get to know me a little. Thank you. I like to know someone before I take my clothes off. Glad you sensed it.

First it was the scrub, I could not believe the stuff coming off of me. My client had warned me but never in a million years would I be so disgusted with myself. I bathe daily and use lotion. My skin never felt so silky smooth like it did that day. Next up were the suds and massage on a giant hot plate. At this point, I had fallen asleep trying to ignore all of the other naked women that were doing the same. I love how free Europe is when it comes to the human body.

We were off to get rinsed and our hair washed. My hair was so soft, my skin was silky smooth – it was all worth it. They wrapped us up, shook our hands, sat us down on the couch. They rushed out some Turkish delights with some apple Turkish tea. As we sat in our towels talking about the entire experience, they thanked us and said their goodbyes. After our after shot in the mirror, we went and got changed to head back to our hotel. 

It was perfect timing for our wine hour. We decided to eat at the hotel for the second time, with a view like that, how could you not? 

We became regulars during our stay for the wine hour and dinner. By the end, they were giving us complimentary desserts, wine and appetizers.

 

Day 7.

Touring and Museum day. We love history, culture and religion. This post is long enough so I will let my photos speak for themselves. 

 

 

Day 8.

Baby, I am coming home! After two weeks of being away from my love – I could not wait to be in his arms. This last week was crazy busy. I arrived Monday evening and was back at work Tuesday morning at 6am. I had been playing catch up, cleaning and doing laundry. Spending time with my family. My birthday is coming up this Saturday and I can’t wait to see my girlfriends and celebrate being another year older – if you’re in town, send me a message!

Live to travel the world and expand your horizons, xo