It all started Monday morning. We arrived at the airport just about 2 hours before our flight, and when I went to go get my boarding pass printed it spit me out a stand-by boarding pass. Marc had printed his the night before, but for some reason with my international credit card they don’t let me do that sometimes. We went to the gate to learn that Iberia had overbooked the flight and that I would have to wait to get on another flight, and that we would make it to Istanbul later that night, so I said by to Marc and went to battle with Iberia over compensation for overbooking the flight. I was given the choice to switch carriers to Turkish Airlines and leave at 5 pm, or stay with Iberia and make it out at 6pm. I had enough of dealing with them and because I had not checked a bag I decided to go ahead and switch to the flight on Turkish Airlines. Iberia gave all of the displaced passengers a monetary compensation of 400 Euros, and on top of that I got them to pitch for lunch at the airport while I waited which wasn’t all bad!!! Basically they paid for me to go to Istanbul for the week! When I went to the gate for the Turkish Airlines flight I ended up running into a couple of the other displaced passengers who were Turkish and ended up chatting with them for a while. Apparently not everyone knew that they compensated for things like that, because these two fellows were not compensated at all…WHOOPS, but I told them to go to the Iberia desk in Istanbul and hopefully they were taken care of. I ended up sitting right next to them on the flight and chatting with them about places to go and sights to see while in Istanbul. The fellows name was Ibo, and he hooked me up with all the info, including spots and dishes to eat. On top of that he gave me his cell phone number and stressed the fact that if I had any troubles AT ALL, no matter what time of the day or night to PLEASE give him a call and he would help me out! Once again, I seem to be running into awesome people everywhere. He was a really good guy, and I was teaching him some Spanish while he taught me the key phrases in Turkish! We ended up arriving about an hour later than expected and Ibo helped me catch a Taxi to the Youth Hostel so I would not get taken advantage of on the fair. Of course when I was paying the guy I asked him to give me 15 in change and he only handed me back 12.5…don’t think it was a mistake seeing as they have 10 and 5 Lira bills! But hey, I was there a little late but safely, just to find Marc on the roof top terrace (with views of the Asian side of Istanbul and the all famous Blue Mosque) enjoying some beers with a couple of Argentinean girls. Now that is what I call a good friend! The girls, Gisela and Natalia, were really nice and a bit later a Scottish guy named Gary met up with us and we all enjoyed a few beers before calling it a night. Gary was stopping through Istanbul back on his way to Dubai for work, and the girls were in the middle of their Euro-Trip. We all planned on meeting at breakfast and then it was off to hit the town. Oh wait, how could I forget about the two bar tenders and the desk guy at the Bauhaus Youth Hostel: Volcano, Turkish Delight, Tony…how could you go wrong with those three working the place!
Tuesday morning we all met up at the breakfast hall at 9:15 and it was off to hit the town and see the sights. The first place that we went to see was the Aya-Sofia which was once a Catholic Church that has since been converted into a Mosque and now into a museum, I might have switched it around but I am 90% sure that is correct. We toured the museum and saw the different symbols and aspects of both religions, and all rubbed the sweat column for good luck. The sweat column was really strange, it was one column of the church that had condensation seeping through a brass plate or something to that effect…I just hope it brings good luck! The Aya-Sofia is directly across a plaza from the Blue Mosque (which is many hundreds of years younger) so after touring the Aya-Sofia and the gardens around it we headed on over to the Blue Mosque. We took our shoes off like good Muslims and went in to take in the building; it is spectacular from the outside and the mosaic tiles work on the inside is equally breathe taking. It was interesting to see a few people in praying and the completely segregated section that they had for the women to use pray. After the Blue Mosque we all went to a park, because like true Argentineans Gisela and Natalia brought Mate tea with them! We sat in a park that used to be used in Roman times as a Chariot racing arena and enjoyed some Mate in the sun. It was the first time that I have had this drink that they are so enthusiastic about and I found it to taste a bit like hay for horses! It was interesting but good. After some Mate we went to a typical cantina for some lunch. It was a restaurant were you walked in and there was a big steam table or heated table with a bunch of different stews and meats sitting in heating dishes. I had the eggplant stuffed with lamb and rice. I think Marc had a stew with potatoes and lamb also, and the others had a Lamb with béchamel sauce. It was a nice meal. After lunch we headed across town and to the top of a hill to find a Mosque called the…well it started with an S and I am not sure what the name of it is! It is the Largest Mosque in Istanbul, but it is currently closed for restoration so we could only take it in from the outside. We sat around enjoyed some Cherries from a local cart vendor and then headed to the only open section of the Mosque to see the tombs of the many Sultans of Istanbul. After heading back down towards the center of town we went to go check out the Basilica Cisterns, and Greg headed off to the airport to catch his flight to Dubai. The Basilica Cisterns were incredible. They are an underground water storage system that date back to the roman times. The lighting was not great in them but there are a couple of cool little pictures that you can see of the columns, and also a couple of heads that are thought to have been brought from another roman monument at some point and placed at the Cisterns. One of the heads was upside down and the other on the side; it is wild for me to think of how all of these things were constructed so long ago without many of the tools (such as levels and machining tools) that are so counted on today. These heads would have been a massive project to transport and place. In the late afternoon we enjoyed another round of Mate, and then headed out for a walk along the water front with the girls before going to dinner. We found a nice spot to take in the sun setting beyond Istanbul and watch the local’s fish and drive their boats around the Bosporus. I was playing on the rocks like the kid I am and then went over to check out some of the fishermen’s catch when he looked at me and offered me his rod to give it a shot! Yes, I know, might as well be Turkish, fishing with the locals and being accepted immediately! We then wandered around a while to find a restaurant and ended up at one right near the hostel. We all enjoyed some Kebab and a bottle of wine and then the traditional Turkish water pipe with flavored tobacco afterwards. When in Turkey, do as the Turks right! To finish off the night we hung at the Hostel and had a few beers with Volcano, Turkish Delight and the other guests from around the world.
First off, Wednesday is one of the 5 best days of the year…ANDREW’S Birthday!!! Sorry that I was not able to talk to you man, I had a really hard time getting internet, it was down at the Hostel, and by the time I got it I think you were asleep. Wednesday was an early morning, as before, we met up for breakfast at 9:15 or so and then it was off again to see the sights. First we went to the Sultans palace that was a short walk from our Hostel. The palace was quite breath taking with the wonderful views of the Bosporus and the rest of the city from the different sides. Inside the palace there were: pieces of furniture, pottery, relics, and clothing form the different eras and rulers. Being the ruling force came with great wealth, and it showed with the few pieces that were on display when we visited. After touring the immense grounds for 3 or 4 hours we headed out into one of the gardens and again enjoyed some Mate. While we were sitting their minding our own business enjoying the Mate, a group of kids on a field trip comes up to me and asks me where I was from, and since we were all speaking in Spanish I told him Spain…next thing you know he asks to take a picture with me, then his buddy, then the girls they were with, then next thing you know Marc, Natalia, Gisela and I are taking pictures with a mess of school kids that were totally excited for some reason! It was the first time that I had it happen to me, and it was really funny, again look at the pictures on the Picasa albums and you will see a picture of Marc, me and some of the kids! We had some Kebab for lunch on the main drag at a street stand, and then we headed back to the Hostel for a short little break before heading off to the Grand Bazaar to haggle with all of the vendors. I bought a few little things, but really behaved myself at the Grand Bazaar. There was nothing that really caught my eye, but there were fantastic textiles of all sorts, carpets of course, and class and tiles also. The whole place is a labyrinth and you feel half lost at all times, but we made it out alive and then we went back to the terrace to enjoy a beer and watch the sunset. We ended up meeting a fellow from England, George, that apparently had been staying at the hostel for about 10 days now but we had not crossed paths with yet. The whole group: Marc, George, Natalia, Gisela and I all went out for a bite of dinner and chatted up a storm about the travels of everyone…George’s time in Nepal, the girls Euro-trip, and Marc and my travels this year. It is so much fun to meet all of these extremely interesting people from all over while in the hostels, and the people are always ready to have a good time. After dinner it was back to the terrace and chatting with some new guys from Australia, Will, and a few others that I can not quite remember the names of. It was a really cool group and the Argentineans girls were loads of fun to hang out with and speak in Spanish with because it is so different.
Thursday morning we all hung out for breakfast and then George, Marc and I went to the street corner vendor that sold Turkish shirts to make a deal on a bulk quantity. First we picked out all the shirts that we wanted in the colors, and then started bargaining…after not coming down to the price that we wanted we went back to the Hostel for a while to let him think about the big bunch of shirts he could have sold, then went back at him after about an hour and came out successful! After doing a small walk around the Blue Mosque and Aya-Sofia George and the girls left to head back home and continue their travels to Budapest, respectively. After our travel buddies left us so rudely it was back at doing the tourist thing. Marc and I were picked up at the Hostel and we were off for a tour on the Bosporus for a few hours. The Bosporus connects the Sea of Marmara with the Black sea and every year has over 150,000 ships travel through the channel. Of course right when we got on board we made friends with a couple of ladies from Uruguay which4 was awesome because I was able to speak in Spanish for the majority of our trip. It was a lot of fun to get a different view of the city and head up the Bosporus towards the Black Sea. Along the way we saw several different Mosques, another palace where Ataturk, the first president of the republic lived and died, the two bridges that cross from Europe to Asia, and many lovely houses right on the shore. After about an hour and a half of cruising up the Bosporus we crossed the channel to ASIA to have a 15 minute break and coffee. That is right, since being abroad I have had my first steps in Africa and now Asia! We headed back to the city center along the Asian shore and visited a light house at the head of the Bosporus with a beautiful view of the European side before heading back. Once we arrived back at the docks, it was off for the next culinary experience. At the harbor there are 4 little floating restaurants that serve fish sandwiches that are grilled on a griddle and then slapped between a fresh bun with lettuce and onions; the whole process of ordering, paying and getting your sandwich took a total of about 1 minute, talk about a good process. The best part of the whole thing is that the boats are done up really modernly with neon lights and they guys are wearing funny costumes which would make you think that it was a touristy spot, which it was, but the places were filled with locals also. After enjoying the fish sandwich we went and checked out the New Mosque (that is the name, it is just newer than the others, but still old). We did not go inside the New Mosque because it was at one of the prayer times during the day, but we took it in from the court yard and watched the practicing Muslims clean themselves before and after at the fountains outside. It was a really cool experience to watch. Later we headed to the spice bazaar to see what kind of strange things they had. It was not as crazy as I expected, but we did find Leeches, as in the blood sucking animal, not the fruit. It was interesting to see all the different sweets and died spices and fruits that they had. We called it a day after the spice Bazaar and headed back to kick back at the hostel. There were some people there, Germans and Belgium’s in particular that were really excited to watch the Eurovision competition Semi-Final. The Hostel had a viewing party and we all hung out and watched this show that was like a group American Idle type of deal. That night at the Hostel we met a couple of English Brothers, a couple 3 Aussies, a Canadian guy, Russian Girl, Serbian guy (Andre), Bosnian girl, well and a few others that I am sure I am forgetting. It was a great group. For dinner Marc and I headed out the Kebab guy on the corner near the Hostel with the unrefrigerated lamb kebabs… and man were they good. It was actually Durum, which is Kebab meat rolled in flat bread with veggies and spices. We picked up our Kebabs, and walked up to take a look at the Mosques at night and let me tell you it is quite the sight to see.
!!!FIRST STEP IN ASIA!!!
!!!AYA-SOFIA!!!
Friday morning was a slow one because we all stayed up hanging out and having a ball until the sun snuck up on us and was rising! We still managed to make it out of the Hostel before 10:30 and took full advantage of our last day in Istanbul. We walked up to the Tram line and caught it to the Sultan’s other palace on the European side of Istanbul which later was the palace that Ataturk lived in. We caught a view of the palace on the Bosporus cruise because it backs up right on to the Bosporus, but it was even more breathe taking from up close. The palace was stunning with: rare stones, gold ceilings, grand rooms covered in Italian and French paintings, wonderful living quarters and studies, crystal stair cases, and the largest chandeliers in Europe (4.5 tons). I am not sure why, but the tour guide was very adamant about telling us about the English made crystal chandeliers. After visiting the part where the Sultan’s lived, we went and went to the wives section, correct plural. The Sultan’s would have many wives, and living between the Sultans quarters and the wives quarters was the Sultans Mother’s quarters, the one who decided who visited who when, or that was the thinking I suspect. The whole grounds were spectacular and the views to the other parts of the city from the Bosporus front gates were breathe taking. Marc and I were then off to a funicular to head up the hill to Taxim Square. Taxim Square is a big pedestrian street that has a mess of shops, restaurants, and clubs. We never made it out to the clubs, but the ambiance on the roof top terrace at the hostel was a blast! We found some lunch at a little stall near the square and enjoyed the best Kebab that we had over the course of the whole trip. We then wandered around main drag taking in all the people and smells and feelings of the city before making it to the Galata Tower. The Galata tower was a big tower that was used as a lookout tower back in the roman era. We didn’t end up going up into the tour, but we checked it out and then made our way down to the river to catch the trolley back to the Hostel. On the way we walked by a cart vendor making fresh squeezed orange juice and the sweet smell of the oranges was just too hard to resist, so we splurged $0.50 each on a glass! Mmm Mmm Good! We made it on to the tram…well, barely because the thing was so packed and headed back to the hostel to hangout for a little bit and relax. The last big even was going back over to the Asian side to watch the sunset over all the Mosques and sights on the European side. It was quite a nice time and we took the ferry across to watch it. We found a little coffee place, had Turkish coffee and Turkish tea, and romantically watched the sun set and make a silhouette of the city. On the way back we took a car carrying ferry which was different than the normal one that we took there, but it was kind of cool to see that they take their cars across by ferry because of the Bosporus.
That night we decided to stay up all night because our flight was at 6:50a.m. and we had to take a 30 minute cab ride at 4:30a.m. to get there on time. We made it on time, but were both drifting hard in and out of sleep until they let us board the plane. Needless to say, I don’t even remember taking off, but we got to Madrid around 11:00a.m. and Javier, Marc’s dad was waiting there for us already to take us home. We promptly got to the house and took about a 3 hour siesta and woke up to a mean barbecue spread that Javier made: different grilled sausages, asparagus, potatoes, and big steaks. There has not been a single time that I have not eaten well at their house. I made it back to my house at about 6 in the afternoon, just missing Rosarinho and her family that was here to help her move out. I unpacked grabbed a quick shower and was off and racing again to go pick up a friend Sam, from ASU, at the airport. Sam is studying for a month in El Escorial so I offered to hel show her how to get there and give her a tour of Madrid. We got home from the airport around 10:00p.m. and started walking to go look at the sights, we went for about 30 hour and then ducked into one of my favorite Tapas bars, El Tigre, for some Caña’s and tapas. After enjoying a refreshing beer, we continued our tour for another 45 minutes or so before finding ourselves at another one of my favorite restaurants in town, Lateral, for some more Tapas and wine while taking in the beautiful Plaza Santa Ana. We enjoyed: Goat cheese with caramelized red bell peppers, smoked salmon with Brie, and a spinach salad with chicken, apple, walnuts, carrots and a vinaigrette dressing. While enjoying our meal I ran into a friend of mine from Carlos III, David, who is from Boston. He was in line for a terrace bar in Plaza Santa Ana, The Penthouse (very Spanish right!) with a couple of his friends so we joined them for a drink before going home. Going home to get ready for a night out on the town that is!!! The kid is back! We headed to Kapital, a 7 floor club near Atocha and danced the night away, well, until they closed, I am sure we would have stayed dancing longer!
Sunday afternoon, we were out of the house around 1:00p.m. to go check out some more of the city, we made it down to Plaza Mayor and Mercado de San Miguel before the no breakfast thing caught up to us so we ducked into a local bar for a calamari sandwich and a Chorizo sandwich. After the recharge we went and looked at the Royal Palace, Plaza de España and then home to pack up Sam’s stuff and go to El Escorial before her evening orientation. I had never been there, so it was cool to go and check it out, but I will have to go back to do a better visit because the place is very very beautiful. It is about a 45 minute bus ride from Madrid to the North-West, situated up in the foothills of the mountains with beautiful rivers, trees, and meadows. It is your typical small Spanish town. The main attraction in El Escorial is the old summer palace of the Spanish Royal family. We didn’t have time to check it out today, but it is on my list. Well, things are wrapping down here in Madrid. I got home around 8:30 this evening and have spent it cleaning up the apartment and getting ready to pack all of my stuff up tomorrow and move to Marc’s! It is a strange feeling that I have tonight, I am sad to be leaving this place after so many good memories, but excited to go to Marc’s for a couple of days before heading to Lisbon for a week of studying. Well, studying and seeing the family (which means fun with Tia Nicha and family as ALWAYS!)
I guess that is it for now, check out the pictures of the trip…there should be two albums, one of my pictures and one of Marc’s. I hope you enjoyed this entry and everyone is doing very well.
Much Love,
Phil
P.S. Big shout out and Congratulations to John for getting a Job after he graduates here in a few weeks; mart move of delaying your start date so we can travel!!! So proud of you man! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANDREW AGAIN, I Love you. Little guy?!?!?!
