The day started off with us having to get onto a coach which had been parked in the middle of a road...in busy traffic. It was a nightmare, there were four lanes and our coach was parked in the middle so we had to cross a lane to get onto the coach. This was in Istanbul so there were lots of cars honking at us, obviously getting annoyed that we were basically blocking two lanes... We also had our suitcases, which meant we had to load them into the coach before we could get on, which was terrifying because all of us were lined up squished against the coach whilst vehicles swerved around us. I think our teachers also aged about ten years during those ten minutes, poor them.
Once we had finally clambered onto the coach without being flattened by cars, we set off to go to the Sultanahmet, also known as the Blue Mosque. It is actually still used as a place of worship nowadays, so we had to wear head scarfs to cover our hair. The mosque is huge and so grand, it reminded me of a mosque version of Hogwarts a little bit. There were giant chandeliers that had candle-like lights in them which were hanging really low from the high domes of the ceiling, making them look like they were floating. Tons of people were there, the place was really crowded with tourists like us that is was nearly impossible to move without accidentally elbowing someone or stepping on someone's foot. At least no one was wearing shoes (shoes aren't allowed inside mosques).
Anyways, let's carry on. We then went to the Basilica Cistern, I think it's called. It's basically an underground lake, complete with fishes and an underground cafe. The whole place was supported by pillars and there were raised paths for tourists to walk around and explore the cistern. It was a really cool place, the lights made the dark place look kinda eerie and the droplets falling into the water made little dripping sounds now and then.
The last place we visited before leaving for the airport was the Hagia Sophia. I'm not really sure what it is, but I think it used to be a basilica, then a mosque, and now a museum. It's very confusing, it's kinda like three-in-one. It's a great building though, the ceiling is made of tiny mosaics and I think the floor and walls are marble. It's very impressive.
When we got to the airport, we had to say goodbye to our tour guide who stayed with us for the whole week. It was really sad, he was amazing and we all loved him. He asked us to write a little bit about how we found the trip because we wanted to make a memory book thingy to remember us - so cute!! Anyways, he's Turkish, but he did our tour thingy in English, even though he had self-taught it to himself and learnt it all in four years. As well as doing Russian and German tour-guiding too. He's so determined and clever! Imagine, learning three other languages and doing tours in those languages, when he probably isn't even 30 years old yet!!!
Ok, this paragraph is going to be weird and random. Basically, I don't really remember all this too well because it was a few days ago, but I have written it down. And what I wrote in my notebook was 'teacher'. So I wrote 'teacher' because one of my teachers (one of the more calm and sophisticated ones) swore. I don't remember why, but something terrible happened which made said teacher swear really quietly. Of course, being the half-nerds and goody two shoes my friends and I are, we were sitting at the front of the coach near the teachers and heard it... Lol, our reactions!! This teacher is always all sophisticated and collected, so we kind of just went silent and stared at each other, and of course pretended that we didn't hear. I dunno why I felt the need to mention this whole paragraph...I told you it was going to be random. I also feel kinda bad now...but I love my teacher, the lessons are amazing and everyone learns so much.
Well anyways after checking in our suitcases and getting through security, we were allowed some time to explore the shops. To me and my buddies, this was interpreted as 'go to Victoria's Secret and try on every single perfume they have'. Which is what we did. And omg they are amazing!!!!! I especially love Tease and Gold Angel - they smell amazing!!! We spritzed all over ourselves with Gold Angel and ended up smelling so strongly of it that it almost got too strong to bear. But it wasn't enough to put us off it. A few of us were almost going to buy it, but sadly it was in euros whereas we only had the Turkish lira. It was so fun, I'd never been to duty free with only friends before, so it was a great new experience. Usually, I'm with my parents who only care about getting to the boarding gate or buying a tax-free alcoholic drink. So I end up trailing behind them, wondering what the difference is between one vodka and the next.
Now we skip forward to the plane flight itself, which was very uneventful. They were playing 'The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty' which I only half focused on. I was too tired to do much anyway, I just sat back and relaxed, drinking coffee and tomato juice (not together though, bleugh). Of course, I ended up needing to go to the dreaded toilet. I found out after last week's flight that I wasn't the only one who hated those toilets, in fact, I was part of the majority. Ugh, I don't even want to talk about it anymore.
Skipping to a few hours later in which nothing much happened in between, I finally got back home at around 9:30 pm - ish. All I know is that it was really late and I was really tired, in Turkey I would have been sleeping at that time. I hate jet lag...
And that's all that happened on the last day of my adventures in Turkey. Overall, going to Turkey with my school and friends has been amazing. I've kinda just focused on the details of each day and haven't really mentioned how the trip was as a whole. It was so fun and a nice break from schoolwork and upcoming tests which I now have to worry about. The teachers who came with us were so organised and kinda cute in a way. I guess it's because usually, I see them as strict people who don't have a life, but this trip has shown me that they're so sweet and are actually capable of doing other things such as joking around and playing on the beach with us (we buried one of our teachers alive with only his head sticking out)! Even though this last week has been tiring for all of us, we've all kept ourselves together and made the most out of this trip.
