Day 49 - 53, Istanbul/Izmit, Turkey

We arrived in Istanbul on time after a rather uneventful flight (excluding some substantial confusion in Madrid airport) and our apartment shuttle already waited for us. First impression: It was very warm, despite being midnight. The friendly driver navigated the roads quickly, but had some issues with the apartment door. A few minutes later everything was sorted though and we could adore the fantastic view from the window across the Bosporus. The gang (Max, Kathi, Patrick, Chris and Alex) dropped by a few minutes later and a "quick drink" ended up with going to bed at 5am, since it was great to see everybody again and we had tons of things to catch up on.

The next morning was mainly dedicated to sleeping in, but we managed to squeeze a buffet breakfast, Aya Sofia visit and a bus sightseeing trip into the - again scorching - afternoon part of the day. The previous night showed their impact though and we were quite sleepy throughout the day. This changed a little when Thomas and the rest of the group arrived in the evening and we went out for dinner on an amazing roof terrace in one of the trendy bar areas of Istanbul. More important than the food itself proved to be the musical entertainment in the place, as a three person traditional band went all out for the full three hours we were there, playing right next to our ears at near-deafening volume. Conscious of the still present jetlag, we opted out of follow-up drinks, but ended up lying awake for a few hours nonetheless, falling asleep at around 4am.

Saturday was Thomas' and Gökce's big day, so the whole group made their way to Izmit in the morning. A short train ride ("tünel") was followed up by a boat ride across the Bosporus and a bus ride to our hotel just outside of Izmit. The hotel was very nice, but before we were able to lounge around at the pool we went on a shopping trip to the nearby mall. Suffice to say, we were sweating afterwards and the pool looked enormously inviting, but all in all we were quite relaxed by the time the wedding started at 8pm. The wedding itself was very nice and tastefully done, Gökce's dress was very beautiful and everybody was in a great mood. Things happened outside, including the food and a really nice fireworks show. Jan had a "Dancing with the Stars" performance that received standing ovation from the crowd, everyone joined in on the dancing and the European crew closed down the venue at about 3am in the morning. Not that this stopped the party though, which only ended after sunrise on the rooftop of the hotel. The next day we continued festivities by driving out to the countryside for a fantastic brunch, all organised by Gökce's family. After taking transportation back to Istanbul in the afternoon we were all pretty knackered and only managed to hang out in the apartment for the evening, ordering in food and chatting until about midnight.