Anatolian Adieu

I am both sad and ecstatic that this will be my last post. I've arrived in London, and it's time to leave the Middle East behind, at least for the foreseeable future. At the moment, I am all too happy to go along with that. The creepy Iraqi guy tried to climb in to my bed this morning. He went away when I yelled at him, but still, it was unnerving. I reported him to the hostel staff, coincidentally at the same time that the Australian girl I'd made friends with was reporting him for the painting thing. I'm not convinced the hostel is going to do anything about it, but I'm fairly proud of myself for handling the situation.

In better news, not all people are terrible or disturbed. I forgot to mention yesterday that I was invited to tea. I'm thinking this whole leaving out important bits might become routine. Oops? I can always make up for it later though! Anyway, it wasn't a big thing. On my way walking home I was searching for the Sublime Port where foreign diplomats used to enter the Ottoman Empire. I'd heard it was hard to find, but my phone insisted it knew where it was. Well, it didn't. What it did know was that there was a tourist attraction that it thought was the Sublime Port. Instead it was an Ottoman graveyard, but it was still pretty! So I asked the guard if I could go in, and he was all surprised I spoke Turkish, and not only let me in to see, but gave me a tour and invited me to tea. I didn't go to tea. Strange men and all. But he was a very sweet older gentleman and if my Turkish was better I probably wouldn't have accepted.

Then last night I met a Swiss girl traveling alone by train along the old silk road. It was late, but we talked for a while anyway and she showed me all the visas in her passport. It's insane, and a really awesome way to travel across Asia when you think about it.

Then today, as my last day, I decided it was best to take it easy. I still walked a lot, but I didn't do anything major. As I'd missed most of it my first day lugging along my suitcases, I walked back up Istiklal Caddesi to Taksim Square, stopping on the way at a bookstore for tea and some reading. I even bought a new notebook because it was on extreme sale and I'm starting to realize that as much as I love my moleskin... it's a bit heavy to carry with me everywhere. The walking also gave me a chance to stop and by some gifts for the people I'll be seeing in the UK. I don't have much room, but if I'm leaving them here I figured I could spare the space.

Sightseeing and gift buying done, it was back to the hostel to wait for my airport shuttle, and then to the airport where I proceeded to spend all of my remaining lira on a feast of ridiculously overpriced food. But hey, I'd been craving pide, and I never say no to dondurma. The flight was delayed a bit due to a change in the winds, but when we did eventually make it out the crew was lovely and the plane was fairly empty, so it was an overall comfortable flight.

I feel like I should have some grand sign off to end my three month tour, but I don't, so instead let me leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from Ataturk.

“Mankind is a single body and each nation a part of that body. We must never say "What does it matter to me if some part of the world is ailing?" If there is such an illness, we must concern ourselves with it as though we were having that illness.”

“To see me does not necessarily mean to see my face. To understand my thoughts is to have seen me.”

“Everything we see in the world is the creative work of women.”

And lest you despair of the loss of a direct link to my travels, fear not dear readers! Turkish Delight may be over and gone, but the saga continues soon at laurenoneurail.blogspot.com. For tonight though, I am sleeping, so you'll have to be patient for a first post.

Soggy Sightseeing

I jinxed it. =(

So, you remember how I was saying the weather was bad even though it hadn't rained? Well, it rained. And it was horrible. But I refused to let the weather stop me seeing awesome things in Istanbul, so my sneakers are drying in my room as I write this and I am wearing my shower flip flops and really wanting another warm shower. So I will keep this short.

I woke up this morning and had a short and awkward breakfast with the Iraqi guy, who I think was waiting for me to go up so he could follow and sit with me. I read the entire time, I don't think he got the hint because he kept talking and then asked to go out together. Shocker, I said no and left. He drew another nude picture today that he showed me when I got back to the dorm this evening. I told him I didn't like it. He wants me to take a picture when I leave as a symbol of our 'friendship.' I said no to that too, and I'm really glad I'm leaving tomorrow.

Anyway, once I'd hurried out of the hostel earlier than usual, I dropped of my laundry at the cleaner's and headed for a very wet Dolmabahce Palace. The palace was built for the Sultan at the end of the 19th century as a testament to the continuity of Ottoman power, which was actually declining, so it's actually just a giant exercise in showing off. It was actually really cool to see where the diplomats entered and walked and were received, as well as where Ataturk stayed and later died in the palace after the birth of the Turkish Republic.

Dolmabahce was by far the strictest sight I've visited so far. Not only were we not allowed to take pictures, but we weren't allowed in the palace unaccompanied. As such, I saw the palace and the attached harem as part of a sixty person guided tour. It was a bit rushed and crowded, but the information was good and there was enough beauty in the palace that missing some of it probably wasn't too bad in the grand scheme of things. At any rate, it was certainly better than being outside.

The grounds included a few attractions in addition to the palace. I walked over to the painting museum first, but they wanted to charge me extra for admission, so I skipped that and moved on to the clock museum, because... clocks. I don't need to tell you all how much I enjoyed that, soggy as I already was at the time. Then there was an aviary and a glass pavilion and just a lot of pomp and circumstance. It might have been fun to take pictures of, but it was far too cold, so you'll just have to accept no pictures.

My original plan following Dolmabache was to wander the streets of Ortakoy and Beyoglu, some of the trendy districts of the city where the locals hang out. For obvious reasons, I quickly decided that was off the table for today, but the Istanbul Modern art museum that one of the hostel employees had recommended was nearby, and I decided hey, at least it was inside. Besides, according to the same employee the museum also had an amazing cafe overlooking the Bosphorus, and I was starting to get very hungry.

The cafe was pretty nice, and as a tourist destination I had been prepared to pay a little more, but I had not been prepared for just how much more. It was a bit more like a four star restaurant than a cafe. Regardless, at least my museum ticket was discounted because I'm still claiming to be a student, and in the grand scheme of things the visit was probably worth what I paid in total. Did you know the Istanbul Modern was selected as Europe's Best Museum last year? I haven't been to every museum in Europe, but this was certainly a good one. Sometimes I forget how much I like modern art until I see it again.

There was only one low point at the museum, but because it was combined with a high point I'll forgive it. Towards the end of my visit I passed an instant coffee machine selling cups for fifty cents, and right about then a cup of coffee, even instant, sounded spectacular. So I bought one and kept walking. Not three minutes later, and maybe two hundred feet from the machine and around a corner, I hear a shout down the corridor. "No!" I looked up to see an panicked female security guard rushing towards me waving her arms. By the time she reached me, it was immediately apparent what was the problem.

"No in museum," she insisted, pointing at my cup. I just sort of gaped. When I got my wits back I explained, in what I thought was pretty decent Turkish, that I'd bought the coffee in the museum. "No in museum," she repeated. So I tried again, telling her about the machine and pointing around the corner. She just kept shaking her head, and finally pointed towards the door. "Out."

Now, there was no way I was going back outside, but clearly I was not allowed to have the coffee I bought in the museum inside the museum either. So I just shrugged and nodded, and headed back around the corner out of her line of sight. She seemed satisfied at seeing me go, and I drank the rest of my cup stationed right next to the coffee machine lest anyone else try to tell me I wasn't allowed to have it in the museum. It was a bit bizarre, but she was nice enough about the entire affair. I'm sure she was just following the rules.

As nice as the museum was, I did have to leave eventually. The rain had lightened up a bit at least, if not stopped altogether. Since my feet were still wet and I had my umbrella, I figured I might as well walk and get the exercise. It gave me a chance to buy some of the roasted chestnuts I'd been eyeing all week from one of the numerous street vendors, if not explore much because it was still freezing. That led me to picking up my laundry, heading back to the hostel, meeting a few people who'd just moved in for the weekend, and sitting down to answer the plethora of emails and Facebook messages that flooded my inbox today.

The weather's not supposed to be great tomorrow, but it's also not supposed to rain, so I'm hoping to do some exploring in the morning before my airport shuttle picks me up. I'm sure I'll keep you all updated either way!

Blogger Foul

So... I think I committed a major blogging foul last night, by which I mean I realized within ten or fifteen minutes of posting that I'd left out part of my day on Tuesday. And not one of those "and then I used the restroom" parts of my day that I routinely leave out because, let's be honest, none of you want/need to hear about it. It was an actual part of the day, if not a huge one considering how much I did that day.

So, between the Palace Mosaic Museum and the lack of History of Islamic Science Museum, I also stopped by the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, and actually spent a decent amount of time there. I would have spent longer, but they were also undergoing, you guessed it, renovation. The complex consists of three museums: a small museum of ancient civilizations, a tile museum, and the main museum including exhibits on all sorts of archaeological... things. That main part was the bit that was largely closed though. I spent a lot of time in the Sarcophagi of Sidon exhibit, because they were quite possibly the most beautiful pieces of sculpture work I had ever seen, but I was exhausted by the time I made it to the History of Istanbul exhibit, so I might not have paid as much attention as I could have. By the time I got to the three thousand pots and pieces of metal found in the ruins of Troy, I was really ready for another simit. So that's how that went. Sorry I missed it the first go round...

The reason I realized this, however, was not my brilliant memory. In fact, I was asked. No sooner had I posted last nights blog and shut my computer than those wonderful people having all that fun I was talking about drew me into their conversation. It was a group of four Croatian girls, a Turkish guy, an Italian guy who was oddly obsessed with Spanish, and a Polish guy who joined us later, in addition to the ever present Marsum, who works at the hostel and always seems to be around for some comic relief.

Anyway, one of the girls asked me if I'd been to the Archaeological Museum and it tipped me off, but our conversation hardly revolved around museums the whole time. It was one of those lovely spur of the moment hostel conversations I love so much, talking about life and music and travel. They'd been working on a literacy project in Eastern Turkey and were, like me, stopped over in Istanbul as a last hurrah. It was a lot of fun to start connecting with travelers again. Just what I needed, perhaps. There was much chatting and music and dancing in our seats and I think it was a great time all around. We're Facebook friends now. That's kind of the end of the story.

Then today, as expected, I took the Bosphorus Cruise. The weather was gloomy, as it has been all week. It didn't rain, but it was cloudy and bleak the entire way up the strait. When we landed at Anadolou Kavaligi for a three hour break for lunch and castle visiting (because there was a castle!) before we headed back, the sun finally decided to show itself. I even had ice cream with lunch. But when we loaded back on the boat after the break it was back behind the clouds in ten minutes flat. It was worth being freezing and miserable to see the beauty of the straight, but it was still freezing and miserable. Not to mention I had a camera scare on the way there when it wouldn't turn on. It's working again now, except it still has the black spots on the lens I can't get off that have been there for the past few days and seem to be getting worse. At any rate, I suppose imperfect pictures are better than no pictures at all.

The cruise got back into port around 16:30, which in the grand scheme of things isn't too late at all, but there wasn't anything in particular I felt like doing. I knew I needed to go back to the Spice Market, but I wasn't really in the mood, so I decided to make for the hostel to get some housekeeping done. It was a good decision, because on the way I found a salep street vendor and an awesome borek place. Not that I needed more food, but... salep. And borek. So I ate well today, by which I mean I ate a lot, but not necessarily things that are good for me. >.<

The housekeeping went well though. I bought my tickets to Scotland and Paris, as well as finally getting the Eurail Pass worked out and confirming with Laura that I'll be going to Thailand in August. And I talked to my parents, which might have been a little overdue considering, and caught up with some friends. It was pretty productive from a planning perspective, even if there's a lot left to go. Iraqi guy got creepy again though. He saw me packing up my clothes to take to the laundromat tomorrow and took that as an opportunity to ask if I was leaving, tell me he sold some artwork, 'accidentally' show me a painting of a nude woman, explain that he was going to America soon to become a famous artist and that he planned to marry an American first. I might have been a little rude with how quickly I raised an eyebrow, wished him mildly derisive luck, and walked off. Okay, more than a little rude. He deserved it though.

On the other hand, I finally talked to the Iranian guy for all of a minute at breakfast and he was pretty nice. I've forgotten all my Persian, but I can still understand him when he speaks it, so I guess that's something. Then again, our conversation didn't progress beyond "Where are you from?" and "Where did you learn Persian?" So... that might not be the best measure. He seemed pleased to not be stumbling through his broken English for once though, so I'm glad I could provide the service of listening to three or four sentences in Persian for him.

And now I'm up far later than I intended. Again. And I would still like a shower. We will see if that happens. I would be nice to be clean for tomorrow, my last full day in Istanbul.

Istanbul Take Two

Oh my goodness. I have been trying to write this post for the last two hours, because I expect it to be another long one, but I keep getting distracted, because I am staying in a hostel, and people, and I keep getting emails about hostel sales elsewhere, and phew. I am in the hostel bar and I am going to produce something!

I may as well start with the hostel people, who are wonderful. The people who work here anyway. The people staying are... interesting. There are a few young, fun groups I haven't really tried to tap into because I'm too busy sightseeing, but all weirdos keep talking to me. Not the scary weirdos, before you get worried, but I'll give you examples. So I mentioned the Iraqi artist in my last post, and... okay, maybe he's a little worrisome, but I put him in his place the first time he tried to tell me how pretty I was when I came out of the shower with my hair wet and he hasn't spoken a word to me sense, so... problem solved. Anyway, I don't think he ever leaves the dorm? I have yet to come back to drop something off or use the bathroom without him being there at all hours of the day, usually sitting in his bed on his tablet.

The Iranian guy I haven't talked to is similar in that he always seems to be around. In general though, there are a lot more Middle Eastern people than I'm used to in hostels, including an Egyptian man and woman who haven't realized I speak Arabic yet. It might have something to do with Turkey being about the only major tourist destination a lot of Arabs can get visas for... or just because it's cheaper to get here from the Arab world. But there weren't near as many traveling Arabs in Egyptian hostels, or even Jordanian ones. Maybe they're just less likely to have family to stay with in Turkey? I don't know, I'm speculating.

Regardless, in addition to the Arabs, there's an older man from Manchester who keeps sitting down to chat about the strangest things. He's actually harmless, here with his Georgian girlfriend who's trying to get a visa and clearly religious based on how much he talks about the Orthodox Church. But when she goes... wherever she goes that isn't the hostel, he likes to talk at me about scripture and footballers and religious influence on the EU Charter and industrial momentum in Sheffield and... you get the picture. I imagine other travelers haven't been as patient, but he has interesting things to say even if a lot of it is nonsense.

There was also a cat fight in the dorm last night as I was getting ready for bed, which was... intense. Apparently someone left their bag in a locker without padlocking it because there weren't any valuables and someone checked in, needed a locker, and took the bag out to lock up their own stuff. The girl who came back to find her bag next to the lockers instead of in one was furious. I kept out of it but... well, girls get nasty.

Okay, enough of people, let's move on to what I've been up to, because Istanbul has managed to redeem itself a bit in the last two days. So I woke up Tuesday determined to make the most of the day, especially after getting in late Monday, and I definitely made up for lost time. After a delicious complimentary breakfast of yogurt and granola on the hostel roof overlooking the Bosphorus I headed straight for the big ticket items. The Hagia Sophia was up first, and though it was as spectacular as you would imagine, it was also over flowing with people as soon as it opened. And they were all loud and irreverent and just... ugh. I've noticed this thing about most tourists: they are at the same time the most oblivious and observant people you will ever meet. They will step right in front of someone looking at an exhibit or reading an info panel to look at or read the same panel without even noticing, and yet if one person stops to take a picture of something, everyone in the immediate vicinity stops to take the exact same picture like clockwork causing massive gridlock every single time. It's hilarious to watch once you've accepted the inevitability, if inconvenient and a bit annoying.

Anyway, the Hagia Sophia was beautiful. Parts were under renovation, which seems par for the course in the lead up to the tourist season, but there was a lovely exhibit on Arabic calligraphy that I particularly enjoyed. I didn't get many pictures, because crowds, but the ones I have aren't uploading anyway. Sorry. =/

After the main Hagia Sophia museum, I popped around the corner to see the Hagia Sophia tombs, which is mostly the graves of a bunch of Sultans and their families. They were nice, but more importantly free. Not that that's been a huge issue. I purchased an Istanbul Museum pass for 85TL ($40 or so), and with the way attraction prices have inflated it has more than paid for itself already. The Hagia Sophia costs 30 TL alone. So far, it's covered everything but Kayrie Museum, but I'm getting ahead of myself. So.

After the Hagia Sophia I crossed the main square to the Palace Mosaic Museum, home of the most beautiful mosaics I have ever seen. That was followed by a visit to Sultanahmet Mosque, better known in the West as the Blue Mosque for it's blue motif tile designs. I was a bit bothered by the irreverence of the tourists there as well. They were hardly careful about keeping their heads covered, and I even saw a woman pretending to pray on her knees for a picture which was... offensive. And I'm not even Muslim.

Due to the crowds, of which I was not a fan, I finished most of these places quickly and decided to buy a pastry from a street vendor and go see the History of Islamic Science Museum which was across the street in Gulhane Park. I decided, but that does not mean they let me. Apparently, like the palace next door, it is closed on Tuesdays. No matter though. The park was pretty and I was still hungry. But I didn't want to stop, so I bought a simit from another vendor and headed to the metro. This was about the time that Istanbul started to redeem itself.

It turns out that as soon as you get out of the chokehold of the tourist district, Istanbul is actually very nice. I took the metro North to Topkapi, literally "Ball Gate" in English. It didn't occur to me that there would be an actual gate, but I got off the metro and boom. Castle. Castle! Okay, it wasn't really a castle, but it looked like it. In actuality, it was the old wall of the city, and no one had bothered to tell me it was there. Not even guidebooks or the internet. It was gorgeous though, and free to climb all over, of which I took full advantage. And so began my love affair with outer Istanbul.

It wasn't just the gates though, of which there were multiple spanning several miles. The whole reason I'd gone out to that part of the city was to see Kariye Museum in Chora Church. It was also being renovated, so I couldn't go inside the church itself, but just walking in the door to the atrium was an experience. The mosaics! They were everywhere and inlaid with sparkling stones that glistened in the sunlight through the windows and only full instead of crowded because it was so far from everything else.

I loved the church so much I actually considered eating at the tourist cafe outside. It was cheaper than other tourist cafes too. I was not, however, sure when the sun would go down, and I didn't want to make the trek back to the hostel in the dark, so I elected to walk along the city wall back to the main metro line instead of taking the offshoot line I'd ridden. The Istanbul Metro doesn't have an interchange, so you have to pay for each line you take, and I was being cheap. It was a nice walk, except for the Turkish guy who came up and wanted to 'make friends' and then tried to hold my hand. I yelled at him. He went away. Men. Ugh. Istanbul is turning out to be much too much like Egypt for my liking.

Anyway, I got back to the city center and had Chinese food for dinner, because why not, then tried to retire for an early night. That was when I met Paul though, the chatty guy from Manchester, so it didn't turn out to be as early as I would have liked. Still, I got a decent night's sleep and woke up this morning exhausted from all of yesterday's walking. I considered moving up my Bosphorus cruise to today to rest from all the walking, but when I struck out after breakfast, I just couldn't resist the draw of the palace. Part of me wishes I had.

Perhaps because it was closed yesterday, or perhaps just because it's a palace, it was by far the most crowded place I'd been yet. Topkapi Palace was the home of the seat of the Ottoman Empire through most of it's history. So of course it's grand and fancy and intimidating, full of lush gardens and stunning architecture and fancy jewels and thrones and what have you. My favorite part was actually the Hagia Irene outside the gates. It was an old run down church, but at least it was empty. Because the Sultan was also the Caliph, the palace also houses a lot of Islamic relics, including a bunch of fragments of the Prophet Muhammad's beard, his mantle, and supposedly his footprint. That meant in addition to the usual tourists, there were and abundance of pilgrims, crowding the relic room and praying and crying and it was touching, but it was also a bit of culture shock for the people who were just there to see pretty, old things. It was a stark dichotomy, and really interesting to watch. A bit of a flashback to a lot of my time in the Arab world really. And it was all highlighted when I came down from the second floor of an exhibit on Islam in general to be asked by an 83 year old Turkish woman if there was anything up there worth climbing the stairs for. I told her it was just a bunch of manuscripts, nothing especially noteworthy or different from the first floor, and she launched into an entirely unsolicited monologue about how she was a Muslim, but she loved Christians and we all believed in the same God anyway. It was actually very sweet.

Anyway, the lines at Topkapi meant I spent the entire morning there. It took half an hour even to use the restroom, and getting into exhibits was far worse than that. I left around 2:30, finally did the History of Islamic Science Museum. It wasn't terribly impressive, and was sadly reactionary in my opinion. I would have enjoyed it if they were telling me "these are the advances Muslims have made." Instead it was all defending Muslim advances against their occidental counterparts. Nevertheless, there were some interesting points. I especially enjoyed the geography, architecture, and time keeping exhibits. Speaking of time keeping! My favorite part of Topkapi was easily the Ottoman clock collection. I think I have decided that if ever I find myself with enough money to start seriously collecting something, I will collect clocks. They're just so... brilliant and beautiful and intricate and scientific but still... I don't know. I really like clocks.

After the museum it was coming time for things to start closing, so I walked up to the Spice Bazaar, which was a lot like the Grand Bazaar except not as bad and with things I would actually consider buying. I didn't buy anything, but I have promised Lisa I will bring her some Turkish apple tea, so I might go back. Or just buy it elsewhere. Because it's everywhere, literally. The hostel staff keep offering me a glass anytime they see me sitting around reading or writing or resting or... anything. The major triumph of the Spice Bazaar, however, was finding the cheap food area on the way. Yay cheap food! It was dinner time on the way home, so I stopped a cig kofte stall and asked for their smallest portion, which was 6.50TL (a little more than $3). They proceeded to give me enough food for two or three meals. Good problem to have, right? Except my hostel doesn't have a kitchen, and therefore doesn't have a fridge for me to store leftovers in. There was a concert in the park, so I sat to listen and valiantly try to finish my food. Wasting seems like such a sad thing at this point! I ate about two-thirds and had to give up. But I packaged it up and took it back to the hostel and have since been able to finish it. I love cig kofte, probably because, as a vegetarian, it's the only kofte I can eat. It's this mushy mixture of like... bulghur wheat and tomato probably and a bunch of amazing spices. They serve it to you in oblong hunks and you wrap it in a pita with lettuce and it's crunchy and spicy and awesome.

So that brings me to now, sitting in the hostel surrounded by a bunch of people having a wonderful time, full and relaxed and having a nice cup of tea. Tomorrow I will do that Bosphorus cruise, and that will also be beautiful. The plan for Friday is laundry, Dolmabahce Palace and the bohemian parts of town, which I'm hoping will be more like the outskirts, and then Saturday it's off to London! I have to admit, I'm looking forward to seeing Lisa a ridiculous amount, as well as my friends in Scotland. I got in touch with Laura today, and she has volunteered to find me room she doesn't have at her place, so that's a few more nights of free accommodation! I have the best friends. So, until next time!

Tipsy Australians

Two for one! Aren't you excited? My pictures from Cyprus are still uploading, so I am going to continue with a short summary of my first day in Istanbul! As I mentioned before, my flight was delayed, so I got into Istanbul later than expected and had to cut some things from my planned itinerary. As you'll see, however, it worked out for the best.

I arrived in Taksim Square on the bus from the airport around two, and was feeling a bit... masochistic? That's how it feels in hindsight. At the time I'd say I wanted a challenge, or I was just being cheap. At any rate, I decided to walk to my hostel, even though it was an hour away and I had my fifty pound suitcase that I'm still waiting to dump on Lisa in London. But hey, I'm young and spry, right? Well, I may be, but the people staring at me like I was crazy as I drug said suitcase down Istiklal Caddesi, one of the main streets in Istanbul, were not. Also, there were a lot of stairs. But hey, it was a great work out! And I did make it to the hostel eventually, if significantly sweatier and more exhausted than I had been. At least it gave me a good introduction to the city, even if I couldn't enjoy it in the leisurely manner I might have liked.

The hostel is nice. Just the kind I've been craving. They have beds for something like 150 travelers. I'm in a dorm for 30, and met an Iraqi painter within my first five minutes. I didn't want to spend too much time in the hostel on my first day though, so I locked up my bags in a locker and struck out exploring. First stop was the Basilica Cistern, a giant underground reservoir built by the Roman Emperor Justinian. It was gorgeous and ethereal but far too packed with people for my liking, which seems par for the course in Istanbul so far. I think Cyprus spoiled me. Anyway, there are pictures, but they aren't good enough to wait for with as slow as the uploading is going.

After that I'd intended to see the Blue Mosque and the Mosaic Museum. The Mosaic Museum was closed, because it's Monday. Apparently Istanbul also hates Mondays. The mosque... well, I hadn't thought ahead as well as I should have. I was wearing tights and a dress, which I realized too late is not appropriate mosque clothing, so it will have to wait for another day as well. I did make it down to the Little Hagia Sophia, named because it looks much like a miniature version of the real one. What I didn't realize was that it is also a mosque, so I poked around the courtyard and moved on again. I spent some time in the Grand Bazaar, which was a bit too much like Egypt for my liking. In fact, much of touristic Istanbul reminds me of Egypt, mostly because every shop and restaurant you pass has people trying to draw you inside. Anyway, I didn't stay at the Bazaar long. I wasn't looking to buy anything anyway. I'd just wanted to see it. And I was hungry. So I started looking for dinner.

The problem with finding dinner was much like the problem with the Bazaar. Every time I stopped to glance at a menu I was accosted by eager employees trying to woo me in with cheesy pick up lines, which is about the fastest way to drive me off. I'd almost made it back to the hostel, however, when one guy's tactics actually worked. Not by any merit of his own though.

I'd stopped to glance at the menu, and actually saw some reasonably priced items I liked. I was about to sit down when he came up with some line about having the best food in Istanbul and his mother making every morsel and while that wasn't terrible it just turned me off, so I thanked him and went to move on when he called on a woman sitting at one of the tables, asking her if it wasn't the best food in Istanbul. She insisted it was, and seemed so enthusiastic I thought "hey, why not?" So I agreed, and he showed me to a little table, which was when the woman noticed I was alone and invited me to join her. That was when I realized why she'd been so enthusiastic.

Jodie and her partner Josh, from Australia, weren't there for dinner. They'd been drinking for the better part of the day. But two friendlier people you couldn't meet, so I settled in for a lovely dinner of good food and better conversation. She's a banker, he's a restaurateur, and they're only in Istanbul for a couple days waiting to take a Black Sea cruise. They were wonderful people though, drunk or not, and lots of fun. Also, they insisted on picking up the bill. I fought! I promise! But... we'd had such a wonderful meal I couldn't really stop them. And now I feel a lot less guilty about the tab I'm running up at this cafe. It was the perfect evening to follow what had been turning into a mildly stressful day, and I have Josh's card should I ever find myself in Australia.

And now it's late, and I really need a shower, so I shall leave you here and hope that a good night's sleep will make Istanbul a little easier to handle in the morning. I should mention it's gorgeous here. I've never seen a city so green, and the Bosphorus glistens like every literary epithet you can imagine. Now to find the time and energy to give it all the look it deserves!

Keep Left - Northern Cyprus

So, I've sat down to write this post at least three times, and I keep getting tired or distracted or called to board my flight, etc. etc. But now, I have found a lovely cafe and Istanbul and I am going to finish it so help me Google! I did, after all, promise to tell you about Cyprus - and it's going to be a long one.

So, to start with, let's do some background on why Cyprus, and why it still fits in my Turkey blog. (I will be starting a Europe blog when I get there, fyi... Except I'm already in Europe, because I'm staying on the European side of Istanbul... But whatever. Semantics.) Anyway, going way back Cyprus has been a hotbed of ethnic strife between its ethnically Greek and ethnically Turkish inhabitants. In 1974, the northern part of the island declared independence as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and has remained such ever since - except for the tiny issue where Turkey is the only nation in the world to recognize them as a sovereign nation. It's not a violent conflict, but it has led to all sorts of fascinating diplomatic issues, including complete inaccessibility from anywhere besides Turkey. So we had to take advantage, right?

The most interesting thing to note about Northern Cyprus is that is has become a fascinating amalgamation of cultures. Prior to independence, the island was occupied by the British following a deal with the Ottoman Empire in 1878. I know the year because I spent my trip reading the 1897 travel log of and Englishman in Cyprus, which was interesting but not something I'm going to elaborate on here. The British influence on the island is obvious. There are many Brits living there, and even more who visit regularly, so the usual Turkish cafes exist right alongside a wealth of English and Irish pubs. Nevertheless, the cities have a decidedly Mediterranean feel. We stayed in a hostel on the harbour in Kyrenia on the north shore, and it looked like every picture of the Greek coast I've ever seen.

Apart from the modern culture, however, the island is also rich with historical significance and, therefore, landmarks. Cyprus has long been considered a strategic military post, so it has been occupied by everyone from the Romans to the Persians, Byzantines, Lusignans, Venetians, and everyone else who ever had a major naval presence in the Mediterranean. And they all left their mark - mostly in castles. In North Cyprus alone there is a series of four major castles, and I got to see them all. For those of you who know me, you will know how over the moon I was about that. I Love castles. Love. With a capital L. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself though.

So I flew into Cyprus from Ankara late Wednesday night, a full day ahead of Mark and Isobel because I'm running down to the end of my Turkish visa and every day counts. Since it's not recognized as a sovereign nation, TRKC sees far fewer tourists than its southern counterpart, and there's little to no tourist infrastructure. As such, we'd arranged to rent a car, which I picked up at the airport, which was... an experience. There was a man with a sign with my name on it. I shook his hand, gave him a wad of cash, he handed me a key, told me to lock it in the car in the car park when I left, and that was that. I was on my own with a car in a fake country. That drives on the left.

Driving on the left wasn't really the problem, but it was a fun experience nonetheless. Oh, and did I mention we got an imported Mazda? So the entire console was in Japanese. Still, who needs to know how to work the gps? I had a map. Sort of. Not that that stopped me from taking the wrong turn and driving through the winding mountain roads in pitch blackness instead of taking the well lit highway I'd intended. I got where I was going at least. It just took... longer. And a lot of stopping to consult the gps on my phone. I swear, that thing is a lifesaver. Speaking of, I've installed a gps tracking app that I plan to check in on whenever I reach a new city, so for any of my readers who would like those more frequent updates (and have a smart phone) just let me know and I can loop you in.

I had worried that parking would be an issue on the narrow harbour streets, and it would have been, except I found a fantastic free spot at the mosque down the street from the hostel. The lovely thing about Cyprus is that no one tows, so as long as you can find a spot that isn't going to block anyone else, you're golden. That's still harder than it sounds, but I got lucky. That left me wandering into the hostel around eleven. It wasn't really a hostel in the traditional sense. It was actually a boutique hotel that had installed a four bed dorm, but hey - it was cheap. And that's the important thing.

Muhammad, who checked me in, was very blase about the whole thing. He didn't need me to pay up front, didn't really have anything to tell me about policies or check out times or... anything really. Much like the car, he gave me a key and left me to it. That turned out to be a problem the next day, because when I finally paid I thought I was paying for all of us for the entire time we were there and I was only paying for me and when Mark and Isobel got there it got complicated, but it all worked out in the end and I don't really feel like explaining but ugh organization and communication. It just makes things easier. Anyway, the hostel was about what we paid for. A plain room with a bathroom that's door didn't close. Good thing we were all friends. The location was spectacular there. The entire city was at our fingertips. I figured all the cafes and bars in the city would be better explored with friends though, so when I woke up on Thursday I took to the roads.

My first stop was Bellapais Abbey, an old abbey in the mountains proclaimed, at least by the brochure, as the finest example of Gothic architecture in the Mediterranean. I'm inclined to agree, though the view from the abbey might have made me a bit biased.

I followed the abbey with North Cyprus' most popular castle, St. Hilarion. St. Hilarion is best known as the inspiration for Disney's Snow White's castle, allegedly. Who knows? They claim it at any rate. Regardless, it is impressive in its own respect, and hiking the ruins was a spectacular experience. I even took a selfie for Mom's benefit. (For those of you who don't know, I despise selfies. But when mother complains there aren't enough pictures of me, who am I to refuse her?)

I hadn't been sure how long the abbey and St. Hilarion would take, so I hadn't planned anything else for Thursday. I was due to pick up Mark and Isobel from the airport at seven and I didn't want to be late, or do too much without them. I finished St. Hilarion in the early afternoon though, and with a bunch of time left, I figured I'd drive out to the east coast. It wasn't any further from the airport, but it was far enough from Kyrenia that I doubted we'd make it out there as a trio. I was wrong, but anyway. The east coast took me to St. Barnabus monastery, which wasn't much to see but had a couple nice museums, and the Salamis Roman ruins. For those who don't know, Cyprus is the rumored birthplace of the Roman goddess Venus, so I figured the ruins were important. The main section (pictured) was beautiful, but pretty centrally located, while the complex was vast. Then again, I'm me, and thought... what the hell, I have time. So I started trekking out to some old 'temples' that are mostly piles of rock now. I characterize most of that sightseeing as exercise in hindsight, with a picturesque view of the sea that certainly didn't hurt. There was definitely a point where I jogged for half a kilometer just because there was nothing to see though, and I figured exercise (or more of it) would be good for me.

Even with all the extra hiking time, I still had a bit to kill before Mark and Isobel's flight arrived, but I was also wiped. So I drove out to the airport and napped in the car for an hour before picking them up and heading back to the hostel. I found the right highway this time, thank goodness. We went out for dinner that night, as we did every meal thereafter. My wallet will definitely be thankful for my return to travelling alone, but it was nice to have some company.

Friday took us to breakfast on the harbour, then Kyrenia Castle, the fort protecting said harbour, and thus literally right next door.

The next morning, we went back into the mountains to see Buffavento Castle, the highest, though also most degraded of the four. Then we headed out to Turtle Beach for a nice lie in the sun, followed by lunch, tea, and reading at a beach side cafe. Turtle Beach is named such because it is a well known breeding ground for the sea turtles that lay their eggs there every spring. Apparently there's a research center in the area too, though we didn't find it. Truth be told, with the beach calling, we didn't look too hard.

After I'd drug Mark and Isobel out of bed early for Buffovento, we agreed to let them sleep in on Sunday, so I struck out that morning on my own again. I wanted to get more of a feel for inland Kyrenia, so I wandered the streets on foot, only half looking for the pair of black flats I told myself I needed for those situations in Europe where sneakers would not be appropriate. I definitely didn't want to pay European prices for them though, and I did end up with a pair. I'm not in love with them, but they're small enough to pack, and where else am I going to get super comfortable hand crafted suede shoes for $30?

Around noon, we finally headed out with a new and unexpected plan. I'd wanted to head down to the border and cross into Greek Cypress, something I had been told by multiple contacts at the Embassy was easy and worth it, but Mark and Isobel were worried about border issues, so instead we went on a road trip! We took the coastal road out to the north eastern peninsula to see the last of the four castles: Kantara. And because it was another castle, I could hardly complain. Being so out of the way, it was completely empty, and had by far the best views yet.

From Kantara we drove south for dinner in Famagusta, the town nearest Salamis. Mark had showed some interest in stopping to see Salamis again, but when we pilled in to the car park it was clear that the environment I had seen there on May Day, one of families and fun, had turned into a rather worrisome men's club without a female or child in sight, and I was wearing shorts. We didn't stay long. After pastries and cards in a Famagusta cafe, I dropped Mark and Isobel at the airport and headed back for my last night in the hostel. I wasn't alone though. Three Russian girls had checked in while I was out. They didn't speak much English though, so I mostly introduced myself and went to bed. The next morning, it was just a matter of getting back to the airport, locking my keys in the car as instructed, and boarding my (delayed) flight to Istanbul.

I can't express how wonderful the Cypress experience was as a whole. Certainly a trip I'm glad I didn't miss, and a perfect send off from an important part of my Ankara family. If any of you are looking for your next cheap vacation spot, I cannot recommend TRNC enough. It's the perfect melding of history and culture, and there are even a number of things we didn't even touch on. For instance, did you know that Northern Cyprus is considered the Vegas of Turkey? We didn't set foot in a casino while we were there, but there are a number of them. All in all it's a lovely place not yet touched by the leveling force of mass tourism, but touristy enough to offer everything you could ever want.

Mid-Week Weekend

So much to write and so little energy...

So, I had a really big week and a half. Like... really big. And I keep meaning to talk about it, and I don't, and now I'm forgetting and moving on to things the likes of which are likely to drive events from my mind altogether. Not for good, just for long enough that they will never get written. So, I am forcing myself to put things down in writing, but it might be brief and cursory and full of typos because I am very tired, with spectacular reason.

So, you remember how I was kind of bummed I wasn't going to Cappadocia? Well, Jim (my boss) called me into his office two Mondays ago - because I've been so terrible about writing - to ask me if there was anything I had wanted to do during my internship that I hadn't yet. He meant work related I assume, but the trip was still on my mind, and so the conversation went something like this.

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Jim: Lauren, I realize you've been very busy and proactive, and there isn't much time left, but I want to make sure before there's no time left... Is there anything you wanted to do during this internship that you haven't done yet?

Me: Well... I really wanted to go to Cappadocia.

Jim: Oh. [Awkward pause.] Well, you should do that then.

Me: Well, I intended to, but I don't want to miss networking opportunities on the weekends.

Jim: Wednesday's a holiday.

Me: But it would take at least two days...

Jim: Well, it wouldn't be the end of the world at this point if you took a day off.
-----

And that was how I ended up in Cappadocia on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. I don't really know what to say otherwise besides that it was spectacular. For those who don't know, Cappadocia is the ancient volcanic area of Turkey + the cradle of Christianity + the second most popular tourist destination in Turkey after Istanbul. So basically, it's Petra with less mystery, but just as much beauty.

To summarize the trip, I stayed two nights in a cave hostel:

Spent Wednesday exploring an underground city and a towering monastery, both carved completely out of rock:

Wandered one of the most gorgeous valleys I've ever seen...

...only to climb its walls and realize they are lined with cave churches:

Went Thursday to visit the various surrounding rock formations, known as faerie chimneys:

And even stopped by to see some of the local crafts people:

Stone work, pottery, and jewelry are all major industries in Cappadocia.

I also met a lot of great people on the trip. It's wonderful to see who all makes it out to these world renowned sights. I had hired a tour, just to save time and energy, and on my bus were other people from the U.S., but also Portugal, Tanzania, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Italy, and Brazil. And it wasn't a very big bus.

Anyway, the experience as a whole put me back on my travel kick, which seems to have shut off my social kick, because I ended up staying in most of weekend despite a Latin Happy Hour on Friday night and a Cinco de Mayo party Saturday. Oh! I forgot to talk about Cinco de Mayo. Or rather... how I got invited to Cinco de Mayo before it was May yet.

So two Fridays ago - like the two Mondays ago - I went to a party at a Polish guy's house. Isobel had met him on the bus, which I realize is creepy, but it turns out we all had mutual friends, which made it not creepy, and then we went to the party, and now we have lots of mutual friends! And one of those mutual friends is a diplomat at the Mexican Embassy, and he loved the fact that I was from Texas and knew who Ignacio Zaragoza was and that he was from San Antonio and so he insisted I come to his early Cinco de Mayo party that he was throwing because his friend was leaving town. I'd planned to go. Really! But then I got tired.

And it wasn't like I did nothing with my weekend. I bought a back pack. A big back pack. One of those hiking ones that I am too lazy to go take a picture of now that I realize I should have one to show you. I realize buying a hiking backpack may not sound like an accomplishment, but I'm pretty sure there is only one store in all of Ankara that sells them, and I found it, and then I had a spectacular time talking to the sales lady. And by talking to I mean gesturing wildly and spouting random words like "travel" and "big." I was actually having a decent Turkish language day though, and we got along so well she even gave me a discount. And thus I have become a real backpacker - or will be as soon as I manage to ditch my suitcase.

That was the other thing I've been spending my time doing - logistics for what to do with all my crap. As one might imagine, the things a person needs to backpack across... well, everywhere - are not the things a person brings to a professional internship at the Department of State. So a few of my more casual things were salvageable, but I intended to pack the rest of it up in the suitcase I'd brought and mail that suitcase home - until I realized the suitcase would cost $350 to ship empty, let alone partly full. So I needed a Plan B.

Plan B ended up being donate my old stuff to a women's shelter in Ankara and pack my nice things in flat rate shipping boxes to send through the diplomatic post office, which is the same price as the domestic post office. I got everything I needed in three boxes and a ton of technical difficulties, but that still left the suitcase.

Thank goodness I have amazing friends.

Lisa, who I am meeting for a ten day romp of awesomeness in London later this month, has kindly volunteered to take my suitcase (as well as a couple larger items that wouldn't fit in boxes) back to the states for me. Now... she lives nowhere near the rest of my belongings, but hey: at least they'll all be on the same continent, and it give me a good excuse to go visit.

Shopping and shipping were just two of the many issues I've been contending with this past week too. Human Resources at the Embassy had an entire checklist of things for me to do: people to meet with, forms to fill out, offices to visit. Then there was just prepping the office for my departure in general. I had to teach John to use the coffee pot, finally. Not that I don't think he could make coffee normally, but our pot is... strange. If you'll recall, I fixed the old pot when I arrived because it's difficult to get new equipment cleared for classified space, but you can't actually make it the way it's supposed to be made anymore. It's too complicated to explain... I'm not even sure why I'm trying.

Then there was the office prepping me for my departure too. Brandon and I sat down for a debrief, and then he wrote me the kindest evaluation letter. Part of that whole process involved me drafting up a list of things I'd done over the course of my internship, which I was going to share by now realize would make no sense to anyone who doesn't know what all the program are or what the acronyms mean. Suffice it to say it was long, and made me feel very good about the work I'd done.

Otherwise, packing out was a pretty low key affair. I didn't have time for any big farewells. I did go out for a drink with a bunch of people Monday night because it was Eva's birthday, but that was hardly a bon voyage. Mark knocked on our door last night and drug us up to the roof for one last look at our spectacular view. Jim got me the best Ataturk coffee mug as a going away present. Then the Economic Section took me out to lunch today. We went to a place is discovered yesterday with Isobel called Misir (Egypt in Turkish). I'd wanted to go in on a whim, but it turns out the food is actually delicious. Go figure.

Then afternoon came, I got on a plane, and now I'm in Cyprus. And exhausted. And there are things to say about Cyprus and getting here and being here and cars and lostness and antique hotels, but do you see how long this post is already? And you can't even see my clock, which is glaring and asking me why I'm still awake when I wanted to get up today and explore before Mark and Isobel arrive.

So good night to everyone, thanks for reading, and keep a look our for a Cyprus post! Also, please note that the photo we took with the Ambassador has been added to the April 12th post for anyone who is interested.