A walk on the European side

Yesterday we visited our first batch of sites.
We went to the Eyup Mosque and saw the tomb of one of the Prophet Muhammad's right-hand men who died in the fall of Constantinople in 670. It's a whole complex of buildings and a very important Muslim pilgrimage site. It's gorgeous... We saw the inside of the mosque too, and because we were in places of prayer and worship, had our first experience with the head coverings. We looked much more like Hollywood's old movie stars than devout Muslims visiting a pilgrimage site, but we all wore the head covering as a matter of respect for the people who WERE pilgrims.
And my pants loosely based on a McCalls pattern I couldn't find on their website made their debut experience.
I had full intentions of making them myself, but after re-drafting the legs and going to Camp, my Nana ended up doing all of the stitching for me after I drafted, cut, and pressed.
One thing about these pictures though... They never seem to do the sites they depict much justice. Without seeing the whole picture, feeling the stillness and the age in everything we are blessed to see.
After seeing this astounding mosque, we went to a hilltop cafe. It had traditional Turkish tea and graves lined the hillside on the way up. They weren't grass-covered though, they were like flower gardens.It was a heck of a hike, but the view was totally worth it.
As in, I took this sitting at our table and wow.
These are the pictures God gives us. This is the reason I feel like this trip is going to redefine my perspective on life.
But I feel like a me-monster. What do YOU want to know about?