Turkey

I wish I had more time in Turkey but in the 4 days I was there, I think I got a good perspective of what Istanbul is really like. From the Grand Bazaar to Hagia Sofia to the Blue Mosque - Istanbul had some of the most amazing history I have experienced.

The metro seemed like a nice cheap option from the airport to the hostel. With one change of lines, I managed to make it to my hostel in one piece. It was after I found the hostel, unpacked and went venturing around the city, that I got lost. Good thing there are a billion hotels in Istanbul and that the people in the hotels all speak English.
Walked through the Grand Bazaar - saw all the tourists bartering with the sellers. The Spice Marekt is where all the locals go because not to many tourists need a handful of pepper.
I stopped in a pub for a beer and watched the Barcelona vs. ManU final game. There were a lot more BCN fans than ManU in Istanbul. Everyone loved Messi!

The next morning I had breakfast on the terrace with 2 blokes from England - John and Ian. Both are primary school teachers in London. I ended up spending the next 2 days hanging out with these guys. It makes your trip so much more enjoyable when you meet top notch people.

We all took a boat ride up the Bosphorus, ate some amazing fish and calamari (talk about fresh fish) and spend a some time in the sun at a fortress - Rumeli Hisari (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumeli_Hisari) - overlooking the 'gateway' to the Black Sea. Beautiful views! On the way back we stopped to grab a giant baked potato for dinner. This wasn't no ordinary potato...it was the king of all potatoes. It was the size of a baby's head, filled with everything you can think of. It included pickled cabbage, cheese, 2 different types of olives, 3 or 4 sauces - the flavors kept changing with every bite.

The following day the three of us hung out at the University of Istanbul. Relaxed in the shade on the grass, watched students play volleyball and had some really nice conversation. Oh yah, before we found the uni, we stubbled across the best kabab shop in Istanbul. A little hole in the wall restaurant managed to create the best lamb kababs any of us had tasted. It was great! Got to see the Valens Aqueduct (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valens_Aqueduct), the Galata Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galata_Tower) along with a lot of Mosques and shops.
We stumbled across a Turkish musical/traditional performance.

I visited the Blue Mosque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sultan_Ahmed_Mosque,_Istambul.jpg) and got some really good pictures of the Hagia Sofia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sofia)

Tony, a guy from Virgina joined us for dinner and drinks for our last night in Turkey. We stayed up drinking beers and googling over this little kitten that was on the bar.

The next morning had breakfast, said my goodbyes to the boys and took off to the airport. Oh yah, before leaving the Sultanahmet (area where I stayed in downtown Istanbul) I had some Turkish ice cream. It's a lot more rubbery than ice cream we are use to and there is a boy dressed in traditional Turkish clothing that makes it for you. But he just doesn't make it for you, he throws it up in the air, pretends to hand it to you but pulls it back, pretends to drop it but it sicks to the stick. Anyways...I made my way to the airport and flew to Cairo where I am now. It's been a story and a half already and I've only been here for less than 8 hours! Seeing the Pyramids and Sphinx tomorrow!! I am stoked!!!!!!