After all my venting I was really glad this weekend that we traveled all together and not on separate days and I didn't really end up needing an extra day. I just would have been exhausted.
So first of course we had to get there! There were actually two other groups of people in the program going to Istanbul this weekend but they both left Thursday night and took the bus because it was cheaper. Taking the sleeper train was probably our best decision ever, they all looked exhausted this morning. Anyway, we left the Thessaloniki train station at 7:30 pm on Friday night with only minimal snags (one girl forgot her passport oops! but thankfully we left really early so when she realized soon after we got on the bus she had time to go back). I've never been on a sleeper train so that was pretty awesome. We had private rooms, each with a bunk bed in it and a sink. One of our rooms had both beds lofted and a couch below so we hung out in there on the way. I actually slept pretty well until I was woken up at about 2 or 2:30 am when we got to the border. The customs guys came around and looked at and then took our passports. In my half-asleep state I said to him, "where are you taking it?" ha ha. He just said "check-in" or something like that and kept going. We were all pretty nervous we would never see our passports again but thankfully after like an hour we got the back and the train kept going. Shortly after we started up again we stopped at another border control which was even sketchier. The six of us had to get off the train in the dark to go to the customs office to pay 15 euro to get a sticker in our passport to enter Turkey. Then they came in to check our baggage, but my bag was just hanging out open so he just looked in and said "okay." Again we survived and went back to sleep while the train continued on. At 9:30 in the morning we were somewhat rested and in Istanbul!!
It turned out Istanbul wasn't so bad to navigate and we didn't have much trouble finding our hostel. For my first hostel experience, it wasn't so awful. So after leaving all of our luggage we were off on our Turkey adventure and it was a full day! We started by walking along the water and then getting on a boat cruise of the bosphorus sea. We went up along the European side of Istanbul,then passed under the bride that separates the two continents, stopped in Asian Istanbul for an hour, and then came back along the Asian coast. Yay I've been to Asia! 3 continents down, 1 more in less than 2 weeks! So while we were in Asia we had lunch which was pretty good. Some chicken kabobs, rice, and tons of bread. It wasn't as typically Asian as I would have thought, but I guess that's because it's still Turkey.
After that we had to get Lira because it was hard to find places that would take euros. It was nice having a currency that's actually weaker than the dollar :). We had coffee next. Had to try Turkish coffee, but it was gross just like Greek coffee. It's just really grainy with sludge on the bottom because it's unfiltered. Sorry that's why I didn't bring any home. Oh also:
--- YELLY READ THIS IF YOU READ ANYTHING---
I tried Turkish delight! It's not as good as it looks in the original chronicles of narnia :(. It's actually kind of icky and I know you won't like it so I didn't buy any of that to bring home either. It's basically jelly stuff covered in powder.
So after coffee we walked around the city making our way to the Blue Mosque. It's actually a very nice, clean city. Very tourist-y though. Everyone there automatically speaks English to you, but they couldn't tell at all where we from. We got Australian, German (which we also get a lot in Thessaloniki ??), all over, I think someone even asked one of us if we were from Japan. The Blue Mosque was cool except we couldn't go in because it was closed for renovations. It's huge though and impressive even from the outside (although hard to take pictures of because of the stuff around it and it's size). But we did get to walk around it and go into the tomb things that were part of it where some kings were buried.
Next we went to the center area where Agia Sophia is. It was too late to go in Agia Sophia (and we didn't end up going on Sunday because it cost to much to get in), but we took pictures of it and went in this other mosque nearby that is also pretty huge and blue but it's not THE blue mosque. I think mosques are pretty cool, for some reason. Definitely the best religious prayer building (don't know what to call that), although I haven't been to a Buddhist temple yet...
We also met this crazy creepy guy that's Turkish but apparently living in American and he tried to set us up with his son that's going to Georgetown next year. It was definitely a funny weekend.
For dinner on Saturday night we found a street right by our hostel lined with restaurants so we went to one of them. We had delicious hummus and bread (although the waiter said basically we were going to get fat for eating bread...but he was interesting)and I had a Turkish chicken and spinach dish. They brought us apple tea after dinner. Apple tea is officially the best drink ever!!! I love it and I was so happy to be in country that loves tea so much.
For dessert we went down the street and me and the one other brave/open-minded girl decided to try the Turkish dessert that the waiter recommended as his favorite. It was called kanafe or something like that and it was kind of like baklava only with shredded filo, cheese, and pistachio. It was definitely different but not bad and I was glad I tried it. I just don't understand why people study abroad and go to different countries if they're not going to try to experience the culture a little bit and most importantly try the food! It's just rude and silly to sit there and call things gross when it isn't gross at all to the people from that culture, it's just something that we're not used to. But anyway, it was a full and amazing day and we were definitely ready for an early bedtime (plus we weren't sure how safe it would be for six girls to walk around at night).
Sunday:
Our second and last day in Istanbul. We woke up bright and early to go to the Grand Bazaar but it's closed on Sundays. Luckily it wasn't too bad because there are tons of other street vendors around and we got to go the spice market which was pretty cool. Shopping there is pretty exhausting because the Turkish men are so forward. Oh, by the way, I don't think we talked to a single Turkish woman while we were there. I don't know if they don't work outside the home, or there are fewer women than men, or what, but most of the women we saw around were also tourists. But back to Turkish men, it's definitely a confidence booster walking down the street, and a laugh, but it's also very tiring. All you hear is "so beautiful," "so sweet," "break my heart," etc. and they liked to call us the spice girls, angelina (jolie), and other stars.
Also, they have a bunch of Starbucks in Greece too, but we actually went in one in Turkey and it's seriously like walking into America. Even the bathrooms were way nicer! Good to know if I ever feel homesick.
We pretty much just wandered around shopping and such for the rest of the day until dinner. I had turkish pizza (yum) and more apple tea of course.
Sleeper train overnight (I actually slept quite well and they didn't wake us up as much on the way back. again they checked our bags for two seconds by just lifting them up. ? very strange not a lot of security) and now I'm back in Greece!
Here's what you really want. Pictures!: http://picasaweb.google.com/kaitz.j/IstanbulTurkey#
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