Christmas Vacation Part 4

Now we are only on the 30th and 31st of December of my Christmas Vacation.  I know what you are thinking, how long is this gosh darn vacation!!! I am kidding, I hope.  Anyway on the my second full day in Istanbul.  So day two started off pretty similarly to day one.  We realized we had to wait a few minutes for the woman to come back and put the boiled egg on our breakfast plate and that the coffee really isn’t that great but other than that it’s all good.  Except I seem to be catching a cold.  And it doesn’t make me too happy.  Nancy and I leave for the Spice Market.  The Spice Market is kind of near the Phosphorus, and it is right next to this giant mosque.  We couldn’t find exactly where it was at first.  We got a bit turned around and then ran into two other volunteers, Raf and Jacob.  We hug and greet each other and while doing this get caught behind a commercial/music video/ tv show, being taped.  Not sure which but all we know is that this man ran in and out of the Voda-Phone store a lot.  Then Nancy and I found the Spice Market.  This place is, in my humble opinion, much cooler than the Grand Bazaar.  It has a more authentic vibe.  You saw both locals and tourists and people there weren’t as pushy.  Don’t get me wrong, people were still trying to convince you to buy their stuff, but they were more hands on and trying to show you what they had and why you should buy it.  I tried turkish delights there and they were so so good.  Then Nancy and I walked around and saw some other shops nearby.  There were streets that all where one kind of things, clothes, fabric, ext.  Then we had lunch and a lot of things closed down for mid-day prayer.  It was kinda cool to see that people who stopped for prayer just put a bar over their shop door and people respected that.  We headed to the Blue Mosque after taking a bit of a rest and let me tell you that this is one of the most  beautiful places I have ever seen in my entire life.  You enter into the mosque and then you take off your shoes and you walk in and the architecture simply takes your breath away. The designs on the ceilings alone.  is pretty unbelievable.  I ended up sitting on the floor looking up and the ceiling just thinking about how I couldn’t believe that I was here, in Istanbul looking at the screen saver on my computer.  Honestly this was the sort of trip that I believed that I would never be able to have and there I was, having this trip.  After the Blue Mosque Nancy and I went for a walk and then had dinner at a restaurant that seriously cost more than half my living allowance, and the food was so so good.  The best sea food I have ever had in my life.  We then went back to the hostel and I went to bed early.  I felt like crap and I wanted to be able to go out for New Year.

New Years Eve in Istanbul was excellent.  Just to start there.  I woke up early and decided I couldn’t take it anymore and went looking for a pharmacy.  I found one that was open, and the pharmacist spoke English, thank goodness.  After finding some medicine, I was off.  We went to this restaurant called The Pudding Shop and had, turkey in Turkey.  I know that is kind of dumb, but it has been a bit of an obsession of mine and I checked it off my weird things to do list.  Then it began to sprinkle and Nancy and I went to the Basilica Cisterns.  They were pretty cool actually.  I didn’t know what to expect, but they were really pretty.  Then we went   back to the hostel and rested before New Years Eve partying.  I went out with the Peace Corps Volunteers from Azerbaijan and this other guest from Chili and we first went to McDonalds and got some food.  Then there was a little pre-gamming before we went to another hostel called Cheers.  The party at this hostel was very typical for clubs I have seen in big cites in Europe.  You have everyone in groups, the Americans, the already drunk Brits, and then the other group.  In this case the other group was seven French cartographers, who were really interesting to talk to. I went to the Galata bridge with the French people and we rang in the New Year right, watching four different sets of fireworks.

Last post on Christmas vacation,  January 1st and then the return home.

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