Egypt (warning: this is long)

For a while we had been talking about taking a trip with our friends Nick and Shannon. And when we went Chicago this summer to visit them we made it official. We had the hardest time deciding on where we wanted to go. It went from Kenya, climbing Kilamanjaro, to South America and Patagonia, to driving a hippie van around New Zealand.... and then five weeks before we left, we bought airline tickets to Egypt.

We had the most amazing time! It had everything. Adventure, ruins, history, relaxation, excitement, culture, buses, trains, planes... It was the perfect trip. And Nick and Shannon were the perfect couple for this trip. I was surprised, but they can rough it with the best of them.

After 20 hours of flying (meeting up with Nick and Shannon at the JFK airport), we made it to Cairo and went straight to the train station. We had a long time to wait... and a lot of drama getting our train tickets.

Kurt and Nick waiting in the train station.

Turkey: Istanbul

To get the most out of our trip we decided on a two day layover in Istanbul on the way home. The problem was we LOVED Turkey, and decided that need to go back.... and devote a full trip to it.

None of us were very appropriately dressed for the weather. We must have forgotten that it was winter.
This is our hostel. It was pure luxury compared to where we had been staying.

And it was in the cutest area.

The first place we went was the Blue Mosque.



Kurt is so sad to be home... with no Nick to keep him warm.



We all LOVED the Blue Mosque... however, we thought we were in the Hagia Sophia. Then by the time we visited the Hagia Sophia, it was closed.


Outside the Blue Mosque, this kid was making candy. It tasted as good as it looks.


The next day we made it to the Hagia Sophia....

... and it did not disappoint!

I love how the Turkish flag was flown everywhere.

Kurt at the Grand Bazaar.

We thought nice way to wrap up our trip was to spend the night on the floor of the Las Vegas airport.