What I'll Miss Most About Istanbul….

We've had such a wonderful experience living here in Istanbul. I feel I need to write a few of my favorite things down, just to always remind myself of the little things I loved most. I'm excited to move on, and new amazing adventures await our little family I'm sure. However, I am definitely going to miss a lot of things here. It is hard to wrap my brain around that fact, when I think about how quickly Turkey wrapped itself around  our hearts. It seems like we just arrived, and I remember the feeling of all the new sights, sounds, and smells. How is it possible that all of that became so normal and comfortable to me? Well, no matter how it happened-I love that it did. I love that Istanbul was truly "home" for these last two years. So, without further ado:

My list of things I'll miss most about Istanbul:

-listening to the fog horns from the ships on the Bosphorus at night
-walking along the Bosphorus
-affordable, yummy restaurants right on the water with spectacular views!!
-shopping at the Grand Bazaar
-efficient buying of glasses and juice boxes (if you break one, you can buy just one- and then if your kid wants a juice box instead of a candy bar, you can get just one to tide them over when leaving the store!)
-fantastic, cheap and efficient car washes. They have great car washes set up in the parking garages of all the big malls. They do full details and hand dry while you shop! All for a fraction of the price to have it done in the States. Genius.
-affordable housekeeping and babysitting (with loads of English speaking Filipinos)
-Porter's school. We have had a fantastic experience, and he's made such wonderful friends and memories.
-Ronan's speech therapist and shadow aide. They have both been so awesome!
-that everyone LOVES my kids. The Turks love, love, love children, and what mother doesn't like to have people adoring her kids?!
-our apartment. we have loved it!!
-Mua gelato. So delicious, close, and lots of fun times with friends spent munching on it!
-the purple parking lot spots at Saphire Mall. They were parking spots made for me:) What's not to love?

-the electronic/ touch screen directory boards at the malls. They were awesome.
-all the amazing friends we've made here!!
-being able to walk to the mall/movies/grocery store in 5 minutes.
-our pool and playground. We spent a lot of good times there as a family!
-that the malls have so many types of stores. You can find anything you need at the mall!!
-our Saturday lunch dates
-the business cards from shops at the Grand Bazaar with the maps on the back (that you must keep if you ever want to find that same shop again!)
-the hidden tulips all over the city. They are in the tiles, rugs, iron fences, you name it all over the city! I love me some tulips.
-the sight of stacked Turkish delight in store fronts. It's such a cool sight, and they make it really beautiful and artistic sometimes! (and baklava too)
-great take-out bags from restaurants. Most of them are a wide square that you can place your to-go plate flat in. hard to explain, but trust me-they are way better than any take out bag I've ever seen in America!
-yemek sepeti-the website to get any and all food delivered!! It will be so hard to get used to not having the option to have anything delivered when we don't want to go out!

And last but not least:
-I love the way that the Turkish language uses the letter "K" to it's full potential! As the letter K is obviously the best letter in the alphabet! i.e. taksi, and Akvarym

Thanks for all the great memories Istanbul! We'll be back to visit as soon as we can!