My first cranky day
Trip Start
Apr 16, 2006
1
14
39
Trip End
Jun 07, 2006
Istanbul,
Turkey
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
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Yes. That is right. It took nearly 3 weeks but I am indeed cranky. And yes... I know that more than a large handful of you find that side of me mildly entertaining. Which I suppose is a good thing.
Today I had a tour of Istanbul from a 70 year old man named Genghis. An inspirational man he is... I mean, the guy is a trained architect and tour guide who went to law school in his 60s. Very cool. But when someone says they have a sprained foot is it really a great idea to make them RUN for boats? I think not.
Or is it good for a tour guýde to tell people (VERY VERY FIRMLY) what photos to take and what things to buy? And plan the rest of their vacation for them when they do not want you to? Once again, I am thinking no
00 Pedestrian street
. But that of course is because I am the one who ended up cranky. By the end of the day I had my patented YOU NEED TO SHUT UP NOW look on my face. A few of you have seen this look and know how unattractive it truly is.Anyhow, I have many many tales of the things I experienced today that were wonderful... but since I am on glass number two of Turkish red wine (gotta numb the foot, you know!) and am harmonizing (out loud) to Hank Williams and Ella Fitzgerald in the hotel bar as I type this (no, not simultaneously)... well I am thinking that I will wait to detail my adventures with a clearer head. :)
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Hi, I'm back & not cranky anymore. I've decided not to go too into depth about this day though because there are a lot of photos to show where I was. I basically took public transport (boats, trams, metro, buses, and taxis) all over the place with Ghengis, hitting both the continents of Asia and Europe in one day. Later on I'll do an entry of Random Thoughts about Istanbul, and that's where I'll include a lot of the stuff I discovered while traveling around town.
ETA...
I will add one little tidbit of the day that a few of you in particular will find funny though... those of you who like to refer to me as "THE CAMEL" and you know who you are (Yes, it's more than some of you need to know but I was given this nickname due to how rarely I need to use the restroom). Well, this particular trait of mine threw Ghengis a great deal, let me tell you
00 The Golden Horn of Istanbul
. After about a half hour of touring, he pointed to a restroom at the archaeology museum and said, "Toilet now, please." I said no thank you and he looked at me as though I was lying. So then he found another one about 15 minutes later and said it again, "Toilet now, please." I kept telling him "No thank you, I am strange, I do not need often." This really, really bothered him I think. So after a while it felt like he was giving me a tour of the public restrooms of Istanbul. Every time he became more and more adamant, "If you do not go now it will be a long time before the next." I still said no and 15 minutes later he'd find another. Finally I just went ahead and entered them when he pointed at them just so that he would give me a tour of something besides public restrooms. 
