Simply put, Turkey is amazing. It is such a vibrant country with a deep rooted culture and a family oriented, religious society that has happiness around every corner.  We were lucky to have good friends in Turkey, E.Z. and her husband Joe, who agreed to be our guides for the day. 

In Istanbul we met up with Zeynep, a Expedition 206 finalist we met at the interviews week, and her husband Jo. They play host for us and showed us around the city. The place is amazing. It's got a great vibe. You can easily understand why this awesome couple chose to live here!

We started by visiting one of the largest and oldest mosque in the city.  In a city that is dominated by the sight of mosques, this place was magnificent.  Seeing the extreme amount of people inside, it was easy to understand how well religion unites Turkey and holds one of the keys to their happiness. Later that evening, we took a stroll through town to get some dinner.  We found out very quickly how far up food shared with friends is on the list of happy things in Turkey.  There were many mazes of alleyways filled with tables and chairs from cafes and restaurants dotting the city and all of them were packed.  People were everywhere, enjoying coffee, appetizers and meals with friends. For dinner, we stopped at a rooftop restaurant to enjoy Mezes, which are typical Turkish appetizers.  You could think of it as being something like Turkish tapas. There were many different types of dishes, from beans, squid and fish to cheese, breads and other things I couldn't readily identify. One of my favorites was a mussel on the half shell, stuffed with some type of rice and this sweet flavor I couldn't identify.  (Although, my grandma uses that same flavor in her sweet potato pie!)  You find stands selling them all over the streets and for good reason as it was delicious!  Sitting on the roof, listening to Turkish music and laughing and joking with good friends, it was easy to see why the street and alleyway restaurants were packed with people.  The world over, you can never go wrong with the happiness recipe of good food, good friends and good music. Throw in a good view and you could call it paradise!