After the Running of the Bulls(I'm still ALIVE!) Cat and I drove back to Barcelona with Pepe. Along the way we stopped in a city called Zaragosa for a bite to eat. The restaurant was showing the first baseball game I have seen on tv since we've been on this trip. It was nice to get a little slice of home. I made a futile attempt at explaining the game to Pepe. Hopefully he at least has the basics down now so he can tell his friends all about our favorite past time.
For the next 10 days, Cat and her mother went on a tour of Italy together while my parents and I went on a cruise of the Mediterranean. Both trips were amazing! Then we all returned to Barcelona to tourist around a bit and say a final goodbye to our Barcelona friends before heading to Greece. It was great to see my parents for a few days, and to our BCN friends: you will be missed!
After a 2.5 hour flight we arrived in Athens and used the metro to make our way to Clio's(our couchsurfing host) house. My first impressions of Athens: the people are nice and eager to practice their English, the city is fairly unattractive, there are cats EVERYWHERE, and I now understand the reason why "it's all Greek to me" became a popular expression....the language is entirely different than anything I have ever seen before. After a while I was able to decode a bit of the hieroglyphics on advertisements and street signs thanks to my extensive knowledge of fraternity names in the U.S.
I first met Clio when she stepped out of the elevator to take us up to her apartment. She's tall with dark hair, attractive, and all smiles. I said hello and walked up to exchange the customary cheek to cheek greeting. I was unaware that Greeks kiss the right cheek then the left cheek(opposite of Spaniards), and the whole event was botched. We both went the same direction, I nearly head-butted her, and ended up just planting a big kiss on her right cheek right next to her mouth(clearly my plan from the beginning....). We laughed it off, and she took us up to her place where we chatted with her and her boyfriend for an hour or two before Cat and I headed to a gyro restaurant that Clio recommended we try for dinner.
The most common types of restaurant that we found on our trip to Greece were gyro joints. Basically Greek fast food. Delicious. They all have the same basic set up: the workers shear strips of meat off of huge blocks onto pita bread, then top that with fries, tomatoes, tzaziki sauce, and onion. They roll it up, sprinkle some seasoning on it, and wrap it in a napkin for you. Not the healthiest thing I have ever had, but they are cheap and tasty.
After dinner we met Clio and her cousin, Xenia, at a bar near where we ate. The area was full of bars and seemed to be a very popular college/post-college hangout. It was my kind of place. Everyone was relaxed and dressed casually. Reminded me of certain areas in Nashville a bit. Most people sit on the bar roof-tops or outside at tables and enjoy the hot weather, and, thankfully, the Greeks know how to handle the heat. Unlike in Spain they crank the AC and fill your cup up with ice when you order a drink(not beer of course), and they bring out waters automatically when you sit down. The four of us sat at the bar hanging out and chatting until around 2AM before heading home to crash.
The next day, Clio invited us to go camping with her, Xenia, and her friend Olga on a Greek island called Agistri about 45 minutes(by ferry) away from Athens. We arrived in the afternoon and walked about 30 minutes to a forest right on the coast where we set up our two tents and air mattresses. The island was beautiful. It was quite small and mostly forest, so there wasn't much there besides a few restaurants, bars, and convenience stores. The water was crystal clear and, instead of sand, tiny pebbles sloped into the ocean. After setting up our tents, it was getting dark and we went back into "town" and ate dinner at a small restaurant that was right next to the water. While we waited for our food to come out we all took a quick dip in the warm Mediterranean. It felt great. We air-dried at the table while we ate. I had chicken slouvaki(grilled, seasoned chicken) with rice pilaf, and we all shared greek salads and zuchini croquettes. It was all amazing. In case you are curious, a real Greek salad consists of tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, a small bit of lettuce, onions,a block of feta cheese, and it's all topped with olive oil.
After dinner we walked a couple hundred meters to a bar where we had a drink and listened to some music. We then bought some beers and a deck of cards from a nearby convenience store and took them to the beach. We found some beach chairs to sit on, and, under the clear night sky with a warm breeze blowing, we taught the Greeks how to play circle of death(the infamous drinking game that is taking Europe by storm thanks to us). Long story short, Cat, Xenia, and Clio ended up singing twinkle twinkle litte star, and Olga dared me to go swimming and then took off for the waves. I immediately sprinted after her, and in a few seconds all five of us were in the water. I was swimming and throwing four beautiful girls around in the Mediterranean Sea off of a Greek island, in the middle of the night. Life is good. I was having such a good time that I didn't care when I stepped on 4 sea urchin(two weeks later I finally got all the barbs out). After a while we climbed out, dried off, and went back to the campsite. We layed under the stars for an hour before going to sleep. Keep reading......it gets even better.
The next day we woke up around 9 and headed for the beach. It was about 20 meters away. We got their via paths down the side of a cliff, and we were greeted by about 6 or 7 others who were already there. Paradise. The beach was about half the length of a football field, and it was enclosed by steep cliffs all around. The water was crystal clear, and the views of islands off in the distance looked like a movie setting. Oh yeah, all of the women were naked. That's right.....it was a nude beach. Is this heaven? We spent the entire day sunbathing and snorkeling(we borrowed the snorkels and goggles from others on the beach) with schools of fish, bright sea slugs, and starfish. It was great. After a late lunch back in "town" we ferried back to Athens and went back to the same area we had been two nights before for a couple drinks.
The next day Cat, Clio, and I went to the Parthenon and the Ancient Greek Archaeological Museum. Both were excellent. The Parthenon was huge. After saying our goodbyes we left that night at 11:00 for Thessaloniki.
The original plan was to catch a train from Thessaloniki to Istanbul but when we arrived in T-town around 6 AM we discovered that all of the trains to Istanbul were full for that day(there is no planning ahead while booking train or bus tickets in Eastern Europe--the websites are useless and every person you talk to gives you different information about times and availability; the only option is to purchase the tickets on site). Our best option was to catch a train at 2PM for Alexandroupolis, a city farther up the Greek coastline towards Turkey. We arrived about 6 hours later, and luckily there was one bus left that was heading for Istanbul around 2AM so we booked it.
After dinner and some drinks we hopped on the bus. Culture shock. Cat and a girl from Holland were the only girls on the bus without something covering their head and face. We were about to enter our first Muslim country.
The ride was pretty normal. They served us tea a couple hours into it, and we had to buy visas for 20 euros at the border. By the time we arrived at the bus station in Istanbul we were exhausted from staying up all night, but somehow we made it to the Cevahir shopping mall where we were supposed to meet our couchsurfing host, Sevim, at 7:30 AM......its was 8:30AM, but we didn't know where else to go. We wandered to a small cafe and had two crescents for breakfast while we did some research online. I contacted Sevim, and she informed me that she wouldn't be home from work until 5:30 that afternoon. After some discussion, we decided that we needed a nap and some showers immediately so we went to a hostel called "Cordial House" in the city center right near the Blue Mosque and stayed there for the night.
Istanbul is a never-ending city. There are houses, businesses, and developments as far as the eye can see. It's not a terribly clean place, but it's not the dirtiest either. Most of the buildings that aren't skyscrapers have clay colored roofs, and beautiful, huge mosques are everywhere with their massive domes and towering spears with crescent moons on their tips. The streets are chaotic. It's every man for himself. As Cat and I walked around I noticed every man stared at her. It was hilarious because she was getting creeped out. I thought of auctioning her off to the highest bidder, but I figured her parents wouldn't be too happy with me. Occasionally we would see groups of women walk by in the more traditional muslim attire--jet black gowns covering everything but their eyes. Kind of spooky looking. Five times a day a call to prayer sounded out in the city over loud speakers in all of the mosques. A well respected man with a good singing voice was chosen to sing the call everyday. It was quite nice actually.
After a nap at the hostel, I went out and found a barbershop where the owner did laundry for people in a back room. I paid 20 lira(about 14 bucks) to have my laundry done;it was way too much but I had no other option. I left my clothes there and agreed to return later that night to pick them up. On the way back to the hostel a short, fat man with glasses(imagine a Turkish Piggy from Lord of the Flies) sitting outside of his carpet shop stopped me and asked me where I was from--I now realize that this is how every salesman in Istanbul attracts victims....I mean business. I told him I was from the states, and he invited me in his shop for some tea and "Turkish hospitality." I was skepticle but he assured me it was only so he could practice his English. He seemed nice enough so I joined him for some apple tea(was pretty good), and we chatted about my travels and his business. As the conversation dwindled he displayed why he really invited me in.....to sell me carpets. He tried everything but I wouldn't budge. I made a quick escape right as he turned to begging and returned the hostel where Cat was still sleeping. That night we ate dinner at a Turkish restaurant before heading to bed early. It was pretty good. We both had different forms of kebabs.
The next day we got up early to meet Sevim before she went to work. She is a sweet, Turkish girl. Very tiny, very quiet. She took us to her apartment which was a couple blocks from Cevahir shopping center(one of the biggest malls in Europe), and we put our stuff in her brother's room where we would be staying for the remainder of our time in Turkey. She went off to work, and we walked around the mall a bit before heading to the old part of town to see the Eye of Sophia and the Blue Mosque. Both were sights to behold.......massive mosques that dominate the skyline of the city. The Eye of Sophia has a reddish top and sits directly across from the Blue Mosque which has a .....blue.....top with golden spears shooting out of each dome and tower. We adorned sheets that the staff provided and went inside of the Blue Mosque. It was a single, massive prayer room with high domed ceilings and hanging lights everywhere.
From the mosques, we walked to the Grand Bazaar--a huge, enclosed bazaar full of tiny shops that sell everything from gold to rugs to tourist crap. It was interesting to walk around and haggle with the salesman.
After a couple hours we went to the spice bazaar which was almost identicle to Grand Bazaar, but they sold food and spices rather than clothes and trinkets. They also had plenty of free samples of Turkish delights!
When we left to head back to Sevim's, we stopped on our way to the metro to cool off and wash our feet at public fountains. Interesting experience-washing your feet in public. It did cool me off a bit.
The next day Sevim cooked us a traditional Turkish breakfast--eggs, bread, grapeseed oil, olives, tomatoes, and cheese. It was pretty good. In the afternoon, Sevim's brother, Recip, took Cat and me to the Asian side of Istanbul across the water. It was my first time in Asia! The ferry ride across was beautiful with the silhouetted skyscrapers and mosques of the European side against the setting sun. The Asian side was similar to the European side, but, in my opinion, more boring. It was less touristy which made it a bit quieter and calmer, but there wasn't really much to do other than walk around. We had a nice dinner(I had iskander kebabs--good) and then took the ferry back to the European side. That night we went to Taksim, a street that makes Barcelona's Las Ramblas look like a side alley. An endless sea of people made their way around the maze of shops, bars, and restaurants. We tried some traditional Turkish ice cream. It's super thick and the vendors play tricks on people when they serve them like holding the cone upside down over the customer's head. After walking around a bit we headed for Sevim's. We stopped at our favorite sandwich shop......an old vw bus on the corner of Sevim's street......on the way.
I flew to Madrid the next couple of days for a modeling job. When I returned to Istanbul, Cat, Sevim "the dream", two of her friends, and I all went out for a night of partying on Taksim. Before we went out we taught the ladies our infamous game.......this was Sevim "the dream's" first time drinking....hahahaha it was HILARIOUS. She did great. I was honored to share the experience with her. After the game was over we hopped on the metro for Taksim. One of her friend's latched onto my arm all night and wouldn't stop saying "you're the devil" to me. I believe it was one of her first times drinking as well...Taksim was crazy. Turkish people bring the game to a whole new level. After a few hours at different bars we headed home with a quick stop for some more van-wiches along the way. The next day we went to the theater and watched Inception before hopping on the bus the day after that for Romania......the land of biker bars and vampires.
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