The day was February 27th, an early Friday morning at 5:30am. Jenna, Mauricio and I headed into Plaza Universitat to catch a cab to meet Mootz and Scottski at the terminal. We arrive at the airport and Mootz and Scottski had already been there for thirty minutes. We checked in, found the gate, ate some breakfast, and flew to Istanbul. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until Jenna realized she didn't have a bag. Like a good sport, she kept on trucking and we headed to the hostel in our own private van.
We got into the hostel around 16:00 and decided to take it easy. Our hostel was in an awesome location, just at the base of the Blue Mosque. We walked around for a bit and headed toward the Grand Bazaar. That market was riveting. Searching for the perfect souvenir and bargaining your brains out was thrilling, yet stressful at the same time. To relieve some of that stress, we decided to embrace the culture and get a traditional Turkish bath. It was quite an experience, and almost a turning point in the trip even if it was only the first day. On the way home, we made a friend while shopping for a scarf for my mother. He gave us the low down on the city and invited us to share some a little bit of shisha and go dancing with him.
The next couple of days were the most jam-packed site-seeing days of my life. We saw the Tokapi Palaca, Ayasofya, Basilica Cistern, Blue Mosque during prayer time, the Million Stone, a ferry ride to Asia, tried everywhich way possible to get onto the fourth largest suspension bridge in the world to walk to Asia, walked back to pass the other palace to get to the Istanbul Modern museum, and walked back across the bridge to go to the Spice Bazaar, only to go back over the bridge to see the tower, and walk the lively street, Iskital, all the way up to Taksim, and walk back down because we passed 360. But we couldn't find 360 so we walked back and forth a few hundred times to finally find it and walk up eight flights of stairs and sit and a one drink because the place is so expensive, and then finally headed back all the way back across the bridge and through the town back by Ayasofya and the Blue Mosque to our hostel. It was a long two days.
On a lighter note, let's not forget to mention the amazing cuisine this country offers. I think I went to heaven everytime I took a bite out of every meal I ate. My favorite, by far, was at the restaurant Turquoise, just down the street from our hostel. It was a bit of a splurge, but well worth it. I ordered the Sac Kamura, which was lamb, okra, shallots, some other vegetables and an incredibly delicious sauce to top it off, served on a hot plate. Jenna and I shared a glass of Raki, which is a local spirit, similar to anice, that they usually mix with water to create a cloudy white looking beverage. Definitely not my first choice, but it was worth trying. We also stopped by a little shop to raid them of all their pastries.
I'd say it was good beginning.
And Prague-- well, that's an entirely different story...
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