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Since I am off on maternity leave this year, we figured it would be a good time for a longer trip. I am only using 11 months of my maternity leave, so Paul took 1 month maternity leave from work and we went away for the month of June.
UK Visit
Paul is from England and we don’t get back nearly as often as we would like. Since we were headed to Turkey, we used the opportunity to stop over in Birmingham to visit family/friends. Every one was really excited to meet Ella and she was showered with attention. 
Turkish Coast
Since we were traveling with a baby we wanted to base ourselves somewhere along the Turkish coast where we could relax, but also soak up the local culture. My parents decided to join us for this trip and it was great having built in babysitters. We rented a condo for a week in Kalkan, which is a popular holiday destination for Brits.
Istanbul
We couldn’t go to Turkey without visiting Istanbul. We visited the Blue Mosque and took in all the beautiful mosaics. 
We visited the Hippodrome
and the Aya Sofia Church. We also enjoyed lots of yummy food – mezze, kebabs, Turkish pizza. 
We took a boat down the Bosphorus and visited Tokapi Palace and visited the old bazaar. 
