Nippon Istanbul

... t get me wrong, I loved it there and I’m glad I went, but it is just so incredibly crowded and chaotic everywhere. At least compared to what I’m used to. If sidewalks are existent, they are frequently blocked by parked cars forcing you to walk on the street, which is also frequently blocked by parked cars. Separate lanes on the roads seemed to be a waste of paint, and the sound of horns honking will dominate my memory of Istanbul. But ...

... apparent is that crossing the road in Istanbul is rather like Strictly Come Dancing as one pirouettes between rapidly approaching trucks, insane cab drivers, ballistic bus drivers and mopeds that make Neapolitan kids look like utter wimps....<br><br>Away from the traffic, the sounds and scents of the city are incredible. The call to prayer intermingling with the clacking of dice as seemingly thousands of people of all ages compete ...

... and to alice's apt. we were getting ready and it was so hot that i couldnt stop sweating. it was disgusting - it ruined my hair that i had carefully straightened earlier in the day. grr. then another friend of hers came and we had to wait for his friend to come pick us up. by the time he came it was 11:30 pm. then on the way there the guys started complaining about how reina was too expensive, too pretentious, etc... i was so mad. ive ...

... at 4a.m. It was wonderful.  Next day we boarded a flight in Izmir headed for the city of Kayseri in central Turkey. At the airport we managed to talk a reluctant American couple into letting us ride with them in their rental car to the town of Goreme which is where we were all headed (overheard them talking to the car rental folks and figured we'd try to bum a ride with them). They accepted though not enthusiastically and they also accepted the money we offered them upon our ...

... filtered by * dense cloud of cig*rette smoke *nd utterly ***** Turkish pop. As someone who h*s been b*ckst*ge *t the Eurovision it brought b*ck p*inful memories. On the plus side though you c*n while *w*y the hours until d*wn d*ncing *round your h*ndb*g. As with most bridges this one eventu*lly h*d to be crossed *nd the weekend w*s *ll too quickly *t *n end. Still Ist*nbul fulfilled it`s promises *nd left *n *rmful of h*ppy memories.....*nd * determin*tion th*t we`d be b*ck *g*in somed*y.

... and busy, yet at the end of one, we managed to find a lovely little local kebab kind of place with sweet little chairs and well priced food. We tried this soup of Trev's. OH my word was it good! IT was a tomatoe soup with spices and some toher little thing in it but its becoming a real favourite in the trip. After missioning for a good few hours and getting some shopping done in the highstreet, which reminded me of London, we headed home. Candace and I got the tram as my foot was ...

... this world is so small.... no matter where i go, someone will always recognize the familiar maize and blue, block m. it makes me so happy to know that i go to a school that so many people recognize - its really neat. this weekend has been one mashup of bizarre events, one after the other. there is this cafe that my friends and i like to frequent in besiktas and one of the waiters has taken a liking to us... and by that, i mean me. he is the one that gave me ...

... I was &#305;ntroduced to them all, no doubt as the crazy but affable Br&#305;t! I even met the local fr&#305;endly lorry dr&#305;ver, was shown h&#305;s brand new monster truck (wh&#305;ch I told h&#305;m looked a b&#305;t small to me), and managed to g&#305;ve h&#305;m a lecture about be&#305;ng n&#305;ce to cycl&#305;sts (th&#305;s was probably a wasted effort as he had clearly had a few dr&#305;nks and I am amazed he was able to dr&#305;ve ...

... closet and we gave the ladies their own room. Before bed as we were all exchanging laughs in the halls looking out the windows, one of our friends pulled on the emergency stop lever as he mistakenly used it as a bar for pull ups as he said, "oh look, a gymnasium!" Haha, the fast train went to a screeching stop - we all rushed to our rooms as if we were oblivious as to what had just happened, here we decided we cause enough damage for one day and we were to arrive in Sophia, Bulgaria by morning.

... and finally washing right up around the table in front of us. We chose another restaurant set back on the street for our fish lunch.... The trip back was lazy and uneventful, and if the seats had been a little friendlier we might have gone for a snooze. We arrived back at the hotel and decided to have a light dinner close by and have an early night (all this sightseeing takes it out of you!). Wasn't to be. We went to a little place just around the corner recommended by our friend ...