Day 4 (will edit this later)

Day 3

We started off our day at 9am. Not too bad, but if only you knew that one tour lasted the entire day (until 7pm to be more specific). It was well worth it though, I learned some pretty interesting facts about Istanbul. The first picture is of a Catholic church. Apparently, they receive their revenue from the stores they own. There's actually a picture of some of the stores below the first one.

So we walked around some more. Walked walked walked. I could go on forever, but I want to get to the high lights of the day.









After a couple of hours of the tour we went to this restaurant called the Istanbul Culinary Institute. The interesting part of this lunch was that everything was pre-ordered except for the drinks. The first dish was a yogurt soup. It was all right, except it had a minty flavor. The second dish had a heart artichoke, mash potatoes, carrots, peas, and onions. This was pretty good. I really liked the potatoes. It had a sweet flavor. The third dish, which was also my FAVORITE dish in this entire meal had pita bread, meat sauce, yogurt, and meat balls. Last but not least, the desert. No idea what it was, some sort of custard. It had a neutral flavor so I couldn't compare it with any of the foods I've had before. Oh yeah, it was sprinkled with pistachios. :9

I lie. The last picture for my meal is this Turkish tea. Everyone here drinks it like all the time. It's like people in Seattle with Starbucks.



More tours. Eventually we went to the Istanbul Saphire which is this really tall tower that has about 50ish levels. When you reach to the very top of the building you can see a 360 degree view of Istanbul. Pretty awesome.

On a side note. I am really pushing for the no facebook thing until I get back. So, if you leave me a message on it anytime this summer, well, hope to get a response in August. The best way to contact me is through e-mail. I check it at least once before I go to bed.

How is my toe you wonder? It is doing a lot better. It doesn't hurt as much compared to yesterday and that's because I've been applying neosporin. I really want this blister to go away though. Thanks for caring. :)

Greetings from Istanbul

The flight was technically 9hrs, but I consider it 14hrs because of the different time zones. Either way, the plane ride was too long for me. I almost puked halfway through because it was so bumpy. The flight attendant welcomed me with open arms and a delicious curry chicken, corn salad, a roll with butter, and a strawberry swirled cheese cake. It was pretty good for airplane food. Just kidding about the open arms though. I'm really not sure. They did however, had a killer British accent.

The plane from London to Istanbul took 5.5hrs. Better, but still long. The lunch/dinner was terrible...I had a penne pasta with a roll and a strawberry mouse. Ugh. You would think it would be delicious, but it tasted like cardboard.

This is the place we're staying at. It's pretty nice considering it being a hostel. There are so many stairs (no elevator). I live on the 2nd (I think...too many stairs to figure out the sets) with these folks minus three people. I live on the bunk with the blue mattress! We can see the Galata Tower from the window and it is breathtaking. When we first arrived, there were birds flying around the tip of it...at night! I took a picture, but it's real bad. If you'd like to see, see at the end. You can't really see the birds because my camera is not smart enough to capture the birds, but it's okay. Just imagine.

The shower room is two doors away. The lights in this hostel is triggered by lights. Just to start this off, I almost slipped to my death in the showers. As I was showering, the lights turned off and I freaked the F out and started panicking. I opened up the screen and started waving my arms to get the lights on again. As I was waving my hands in the air, I slipped a little and then the lights turned back on.




Here is my lunch from today. So delicious. It's called an "adap kabap" which is basically a kabob without the stick.

Baklava!!! The chocolate (in my opinion) was the tastiest! The one in the middle had pistachios. The one on the far right had almonds.


We rode this ferry across the sea just for kicks. It was a pretty good experience, except I was dozing off for the most part. Hey! It was a long day!


First off, there are a shitload of cats in Istanbul. HOOLLLLERRR! As you can see, I look hella scared in this picture and that's because I was. And you know why? Because of fleas! There are stray cats/kittens/dogs all over where we live so it is no wonder that I'd be freaked out. Fleas and I are not homies.

This is the Monument of the Republic. It's located in Taksim Square.


On a final note, I'd like to end the day with a blister between my toes. It freaking hurts like a ...bleeep. I am not sure how I am going to survive in the next few days because we will be walking a lot. I think I got it from walking for 1+ hrs with my flip flops that I was trying to break in. Bad idea.


Here's the picture of the birds that are supposedly flying around this building. It was an incredible sight that you'd have to see it for yourself.