Merhaba y’all,
Next we headed to Turkey for the wedding of Dan's brother Mark and a lovely Turkish lady named Basak. After a gorgeous train ride through fields of sunflowers we had a joyous reunion with Dan’s family in Istanbul and then set about the business of eating and drinking until we exploded... and taking in a monument or two.
Mix of the old and new in Sultanahmet, the old city.
Walking to dinner in Taksim, north of the bridge and the place to be for great nightlife.
Introducing the team:
My brother Mark & Basak, his lovely bride to be. Mum (wearing her very first burka I suspect...) and my sister Jess with her gentle giant Justin.
As you can see, my brother Dave was excited to be our roommate in Istanbul. My step-dad Wayne chilling with me in a typical Turkish cafe and my ever lovely sister Liesl having a jacket for dinner.
And now the cute couples... Viv and Jos, my aunt and uncle. My sister (in law officially) Michelle and friend Laine. And the cutest couple of all, my biggest brother Paul and life partner Steve.
We found Istanbul to be an exotic, intriguing, mysterious city which can completely change character when you turn a corner – it’s a bit of east, a bit of west and a bit of all of the different cultures that have taken over Turkey at various stages, with a population that seems pretty tolerant of other ways of life. There were mosques belting out the call to prayer next to night clubs belting out the Black Eyed Peas, belly dancing men that moved like melted butter, endless streams of mezze platters, luxury yachts lazing down the Bosphorus while fathers and sons fished overhead from the traffic jammed harbour bridges, and scantily clad tourists and scantily clad Turks gazing in awe at the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque in the old city... it was really neat to see a moderate Muslim culture in action.
But the neatest thing of all was getting to share the experience with Dan’s family and family friends – it was a beautiful wedding and we miss you guys!
The Blue Mosque, especially beautiful from the outside...
And across the way... the Hagia Sofia, absolutely stunning on the inside.
Traversing churches is hard work
The Basilica Cistern, ancient underground water storage from the Roman times. Mind blowingly large.
I was easily coerced into doing some pre-wedding shots with the happy couple, here's a few of my favourites:
And on to the big night... I was given the thumbs up to ditch my camera and commence drinking, so thanks to Jess for the photos!
The brothers with some extra Kiwi help lining up for the Haka... the Turks loved it so much they called us back for a drunken encore later in the night. Apparently (surprisingly) it was still good.
Next we headed to Turkey for the wedding of Dan's brother Mark and a lovely Turkish lady named Basak. After a gorgeous train ride through fields of sunflowers we had a joyous reunion with Dan’s family in Istanbul and then set about the business of eating and drinking until we exploded... and taking in a monument or two.
Mix of the old and new in Sultanahmet, the old city.
Walking to dinner in Taksim, north of the bridge and the place to be for great nightlife.Introducing the team:
My brother Mark & Basak, his lovely bride to be. Mum (wearing her very first burka I suspect...) and my sister Jess with her gentle giant Justin.
As you can see, my brother Dave was excited to be our roommate in Istanbul. My step-dad Wayne chilling with me in a typical Turkish cafe and my ever lovely sister Liesl having a jacket for dinner.
And now the cute couples... Viv and Jos, my aunt and uncle. My sister (in law officially) Michelle and friend Laine. And the cutest couple of all, my biggest brother Paul and life partner Steve.
We found Istanbul to be an exotic, intriguing, mysterious city which can completely change character when you turn a corner – it’s a bit of east, a bit of west and a bit of all of the different cultures that have taken over Turkey at various stages, with a population that seems pretty tolerant of other ways of life. There were mosques belting out the call to prayer next to night clubs belting out the Black Eyed Peas, belly dancing men that moved like melted butter, endless streams of mezze platters, luxury yachts lazing down the Bosphorus while fathers and sons fished overhead from the traffic jammed harbour bridges, and scantily clad tourists and scantily clad Turks gazing in awe at the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque in the old city... it was really neat to see a moderate Muslim culture in action.
But the neatest thing of all was getting to share the experience with Dan’s family and family friends – it was a beautiful wedding and we miss you guys!
The Blue Mosque, especially beautiful from the outside...
And across the way... the Hagia Sofia, absolutely stunning on the inside.
Traversing churches is hard work
The Basilica Cistern, ancient underground water storage from the Roman times. Mind blowingly large.
I was easily coerced into doing some pre-wedding shots with the happy couple, here's a few of my favourites:
And on to the big night... I was given the thumbs up to ditch my camera and commence drinking, so thanks to Jess for the photos!
The brothers with some extra Kiwi help lining up for the Haka... the Turks loved it so much they called us back for a drunken encore later in the night. Apparently (surprisingly) it was still good.
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