When the Fourth of July rolled around this year, Rob and I ventured out into Seoul’s infamous foreigner district, Itaewon, hoping to eat some cheeseburgers and maybe catch some fireworks. Overall we had a good time, but the closest we got to fireworks was hearing them from somewhere deep inside the US military base nearby. Istanbul must have taken pity on us, because in the two weeks we’ve been here we’ve seen at least 20 separate fireworks displays from our balcony. Some are small and far away, while others have been almost right outside our windows, and none of them seem to correspond to any sort of holiday that we can figure out. A few friends have suggested that they might be wedding ceremonies, but nobody’s 100% sure.

Fireworks near the Bosphorus Bridge

Fireworks over the Bosphorus

Fireworks over the Bosphorus