Monday, November 27, 2006
Happy days
We made it to trent's house and after everyone was in awe of how nice his house was, we watched a little football on tv. around 5ish we started eating a pretty much standard issue thanksgiving dinner. I hadn't eaten anything all day (on purpose), so just kept eating. eventually people started finishing off and giving up, but i never got incredibly full. after dinner we lay around for a while, fighting off the tryptophan. Then we started drinking. We drank for quite a long time, but it was so spaced out and i had eaten so much that it really didn't have a effect on me. At night we went to a really exclusive club because trent knew someone that knows everyone in town. we were there for a little while and left after about an hour and a half. we went to grab something to eat, and then had to walk around trying to find three of our group who had decided to part ways and go to a casino. After we found them we went back home, but we had to take 3 separate taxis and the last one got lost. After some frantic phone calls and some walking, they finally made it back. the next day we woke up and had a mexican breakfast (burritos w/ egg, etc.). then i ran off to water polo to play. unfortunately the team i was supposed to play w/ had off, so i just swam for a while and then played around. I came back to trent's house to find that everyone except for joe (american guy) had gone home because he and trent had tickets to the opera that night through the school (only 4 leva a ticket). I decided to go with them to see if i could get a ticket and i did, so i watched the opera with them. I took the bus back to aubg because it was free (part of the school trip) and we would get back in time for the albanian party. There was a party in our building because sunday was albanian independence day, so they threw a party on saturday night. It was a really good party, by the time i arrived back from sofia around 10:30, people were already drunk. I went downstairs and something to drink, and then went out and ended up having dinner at a place called paparazzi around 4 in the morning. Yesterday wasn't too eventful, just did nothing and finished my science hw. I plan on giving blood on thursday. I would like to give blood in the states, but the american red cross won't take my blood, so i'm going to try here. the pin holding my strap on my watch broke, so i'm going to try and find a jeweler to fix it, my wrist feels naked w/o it. I don't have that much time left here, so i'm going to try and do as much as i can in the next 3 and a half weeks. as a start, i'm going to try and really get my hair cut tomorrow, i really hope this guy gets it right. I need to do it though because my hair is growing more out than down.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Imported Thanksgiving
Well, I'm off to Sofia to spend Thanksgiving (on a friday) at Trent's house. I think he's importing stuff from the states because he works for the state department and he imports all of his meat anyway. I going to try and play water polo tomorrow while I'm there. I played in the beer pong tournament last night and my team mate didn't show up so I just had Oksana pretend to be her. We won the first game in overtime and unfortunately lost the second. I had no idea that Oksana was so competitive. She high fived me so hard that she broke the pin to the strap in my watch. Luckily i think that's easily fixed. Anyway, I must be off. I'm going to starve myself until dinner because I know that it's going to be a lot food.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Incredible Weekend
Well, I said I hoped to come back with stories and I wasn't disappointed. The stories actually began before I even left.
We had agreed to meet after class and go straight to the bus station. I came to class ready to go and noticed that Sheylah didn't have any bags with her. She informed me that she couldn't go because she had a big test that she had to study for. Oksana couldn't go either because of some work. I was a little upset because it was 4:15pm and someone could have told me something before I was all ready to go. Because of the sudden change in their plans, I decided to keep to mine and went on my own. I made it to Sofia by 8pm and a friend of mine helped me find the buses to Macedonia. Low and behold, the only bus leaving to Ohrid was 2 hours late and would be leaving at 9 instead of 7, my lucky day. When the bus finally arrived to a hoard of freezing travelers (because this part of the station was outside), we looked for our seats. I sat in my seat and eventually a lady was looking very lost searching for her own. In listening to her ask others about the seat numbers, I instantly recognized that she was SOUTH AFRICAN! And she just happened to be sitting next to me with intent of also going to Ohrid. The first thing I said to her was not "hello," but "are you south african?" She was shocked because I sounded american to her and she didn't expect that at all. It turns out that she is just as culturally confused as me. She left South Africa 17 years ago and had been living in London ever since. She also carries a Dutch passport on account of her parents, I'm not sure if she spoke any dutch.
We made it to Ohrid at 5am an ended up taking an offer from a guy who approached us at the station. He had good rooms at a cheap rate. He also was very knowledgeable about the buses and when and where to take them.
We walked around town for awhile trying to warm up and keep busy until the sun came out. Eventually it did and we took a bus to a nearby monastery near the Albanian border. For some odd reason there were peacocks at this monastery, so I enjoyed taking quite a few pictures. Afterwards we looked for something to do when found out that the next bus wasn't coming for another 2 hours. We decided to take a boat tour of a tributary formed by springs. I don't think I have ever seen water that crystal clear in my life. Other people who have been on the tour include Richard Gere and Naomi Campbell. Afterwards we sat around and eventually a taxi decided to arrive right around the time when the bus was supposed to come. Generally they just want the same as the bus fare, so it wasn't that big a deal. That night we had to go to bed early, because we had to get up at 5am to catch the bus to the remote monastery on top of a mountain. Mia (the lady I was with) went to bed right after we got back, but I decided to catch the sunset and eat some of the Ohrid Trout. I spent forever looking for a specific restaurant only to find that they didn't have any. I went to a different restaurant and found what I was looking for. I asked him for 250g of fish because it was about $19 a pound. He brought out a filleted fish and told me how much it was going to be. Then he went into the kitchen and the chef cooked it for me. I got a lot of other things with the fish, plenty of bread, an amazing garlic sauce, a spicy macedonian sauce, cooked onions, vegetables, and potatoes. I put the garlic sauce on almost everything. I had fun eating the fish because it still had the bones and skin. I did rather well and it was absolutely delicious. It was cooked perfectly and the flavor was incredible. After the fish I went back to the room and slept like a baby.
We woke up at 5ish and made our way to the station. There were a lot of people who were willing to drive us for the same price as the bus again, so we did that. We got to the foot of the mountain around 8am. After a very long hike uphill, we got to the top around 10:30. We were rather tired. The monastery was really nice, and it still offers accommodation for people. We walked around and rested for awhile, and then decided to go back down. We asked someone for the fastest way down, and we ended up walking down with 3 macedonians who told us all about macedonia and other things. It was great. The one guy spoke great english which he learned from watching tv. They invited us into their house and we had juice and coffee. Then he drove us to the bus station and found someone to drive us back to Ohrid. We made it to about halfway and caught a bus for the second half.
I was going to either go back to sofia that night, or try and go to albania that night. I was strongly encouraged not to go to albania at night, so i stayed the night and went in the morning. I took the 6am bus to the border and made it into albania, but i didn't have the 10 euro for the entry visa, so i turned around and went back to macedonia. Needless to say, that's about as much of albania as a wanted to be in. I was going to try and go to Tehran, the capital of albania, but there were no direct buses to sofia for there, and it would've been really complicated. I pretty much spent the rest of the day enjoying the weather and taking tons of pictures.
If you like landscapes and similar scenery, bring lots of memory for your camera if you go to macedonia, because you WILL run out of space.
Around 1:30 I made it up to the top of the hill in the city where there was a church and a castle. I figured this was the best place to see the sunset and I had nothing to do until my bus left for sofia at 7pm, so i just sat up there and waited for the sunset. It was around 4pm (2.5 hours later) that the sunset began. Needless to say it was worth the wait. There were some gorgeous clouds that the sun passed through and everything was perfect. I took at least 70 pictures of that particular sunset and I love every single one. Hopefully you can access facebook and see them.
My ride back to sofia was terrible, and by the end I was in that kind of mood when you just want to kill everyone on the bus and just hope someone pisses you off so that you have an excuse to go berserk. I made it to sofia around 5am and waited for my bus to blagoevgrad at 6:40. I was exhausted and hungry and I had a thumping headache. The bus to blagoevgrad was really nice and i felt much better by the time i got back. I went straight to the main building and talked to my marketing professor because i missed class on friday. I explained what happened and he told me what I missed. Then I came back to Skapto and slowly normalized myself.
I'm really glad i went and have convinced sheylah and oksana that they missed out big time. Traveling alone sometimes is better because you can do what you want when you want to. You also get to meet people and might end up spending a few days with them. I'm glad I decided to go and also that my country count is up to 24!
One month until I come home!
We had agreed to meet after class and go straight to the bus station. I came to class ready to go and noticed that Sheylah didn't have any bags with her. She informed me that she couldn't go because she had a big test that she had to study for. Oksana couldn't go either because of some work. I was a little upset because it was 4:15pm and someone could have told me something before I was all ready to go. Because of the sudden change in their plans, I decided to keep to mine and went on my own. I made it to Sofia by 8pm and a friend of mine helped me find the buses to Macedonia. Low and behold, the only bus leaving to Ohrid was 2 hours late and would be leaving at 9 instead of 7, my lucky day. When the bus finally arrived to a hoard of freezing travelers (because this part of the station was outside), we looked for our seats. I sat in my seat and eventually a lady was looking very lost searching for her own. In listening to her ask others about the seat numbers, I instantly recognized that she was SOUTH AFRICAN! And she just happened to be sitting next to me with intent of also going to Ohrid. The first thing I said to her was not "hello," but "are you south african?" She was shocked because I sounded american to her and she didn't expect that at all. It turns out that she is just as culturally confused as me. She left South Africa 17 years ago and had been living in London ever since. She also carries a Dutch passport on account of her parents, I'm not sure if she spoke any dutch.
We made it to Ohrid at 5am an ended up taking an offer from a guy who approached us at the station. He had good rooms at a cheap rate. He also was very knowledgeable about the buses and when and where to take them.
We walked around town for awhile trying to warm up and keep busy until the sun came out. Eventually it did and we took a bus to a nearby monastery near the Albanian border. For some odd reason there were peacocks at this monastery, so I enjoyed taking quite a few pictures. Afterwards we looked for something to do when found out that the next bus wasn't coming for another 2 hours. We decided to take a boat tour of a tributary formed by springs. I don't think I have ever seen water that crystal clear in my life. Other people who have been on the tour include Richard Gere and Naomi Campbell. Afterwards we sat around and eventually a taxi decided to arrive right around the time when the bus was supposed to come. Generally they just want the same as the bus fare, so it wasn't that big a deal. That night we had to go to bed early, because we had to get up at 5am to catch the bus to the remote monastery on top of a mountain. Mia (the lady I was with) went to bed right after we got back, but I decided to catch the sunset and eat some of the Ohrid Trout. I spent forever looking for a specific restaurant only to find that they didn't have any. I went to a different restaurant and found what I was looking for. I asked him for 250g of fish because it was about $19 a pound. He brought out a filleted fish and told me how much it was going to be. Then he went into the kitchen and the chef cooked it for me. I got a lot of other things with the fish, plenty of bread, an amazing garlic sauce, a spicy macedonian sauce, cooked onions, vegetables, and potatoes. I put the garlic sauce on almost everything. I had fun eating the fish because it still had the bones and skin. I did rather well and it was absolutely delicious. It was cooked perfectly and the flavor was incredible. After the fish I went back to the room and slept like a baby.
We woke up at 5ish and made our way to the station. There were a lot of people who were willing to drive us for the same price as the bus again, so we did that. We got to the foot of the mountain around 8am. After a very long hike uphill, we got to the top around 10:30. We were rather tired. The monastery was really nice, and it still offers accommodation for people. We walked around and rested for awhile, and then decided to go back down. We asked someone for the fastest way down, and we ended up walking down with 3 macedonians who told us all about macedonia and other things. It was great. The one guy spoke great english which he learned from watching tv. They invited us into their house and we had juice and coffee. Then he drove us to the bus station and found someone to drive us back to Ohrid. We made it to about halfway and caught a bus for the second half.
I was going to either go back to sofia that night, or try and go to albania that night. I was strongly encouraged not to go to albania at night, so i stayed the night and went in the morning. I took the 6am bus to the border and made it into albania, but i didn't have the 10 euro for the entry visa, so i turned around and went back to macedonia. Needless to say, that's about as much of albania as a wanted to be in. I was going to try and go to Tehran, the capital of albania, but there were no direct buses to sofia for there, and it would've been really complicated. I pretty much spent the rest of the day enjoying the weather and taking tons of pictures.
If you like landscapes and similar scenery, bring lots of memory for your camera if you go to macedonia, because you WILL run out of space.
Around 1:30 I made it up to the top of the hill in the city where there was a church and a castle. I figured this was the best place to see the sunset and I had nothing to do until my bus left for sofia at 7pm, so i just sat up there and waited for the sunset. It was around 4pm (2.5 hours later) that the sunset began. Needless to say it was worth the wait. There were some gorgeous clouds that the sun passed through and everything was perfect. I took at least 70 pictures of that particular sunset and I love every single one. Hopefully you can access facebook and see them.
My ride back to sofia was terrible, and by the end I was in that kind of mood when you just want to kill everyone on the bus and just hope someone pisses you off so that you have an excuse to go berserk. I made it to sofia around 5am and waited for my bus to blagoevgrad at 6:40. I was exhausted and hungry and I had a thumping headache. The bus to blagoevgrad was really nice and i felt much better by the time i got back. I went straight to the main building and talked to my marketing professor because i missed class on friday. I explained what happened and he told me what I missed. Then I came back to Skapto and slowly normalized myself.
I'm really glad i went and have convinced sheylah and oksana that they missed out big time. Traveling alone sometimes is better because you can do what you want when you want to. You also get to meet people and might end up spending a few days with them. I'm glad I decided to go and also that my country count is up to 24!
One month until I come home!
Monday, November 20, 2006
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Off again
Well, it hasn't been much of an interesting week here. Mom, dad, and Kari had a crazy weekend which would take quite a while to explain. I wasn't quite sure what I was doing this weekend until Oksana said that she and Shaylah were going to Macedonia. I have decided to join them and have a good time. Shaylah has to come back early because her boyfriend is coming to visit on Sunday. Oksana and I have no reason to go back early, so I'm hoping that we could hop over to Albania, or something like that. We both have science class on monday morning, but he's out of the country next week, which adds almost another day to our weekend (we do have class at 4:15 on monday though). I'm leaving right after class and not too many people know I'm going because I only decided last night. I'm going to miss the Ukrainian party tomorrow, oh well.
I'm not in much of a writing mood right now, so I'm just going to say goodbye and hopefully I'll be back on Monday with some stamps in my passport and some stories to tell!
I'm not in much of a writing mood right now, so I'm just going to say goodbye and hopefully I'll be back on Monday with some stamps in my passport and some stories to tell!
Friday, November 10, 2006
What to do w/ no power
Yesterday the power went out just before it got dark. Very soon after that the internet went too. It was out for about 2 hours, but it was fun seeing what it was like to be in the dorms with no light or power. It was really peaceful and I had fun spotlighting people with Rasika's ridiculously powerful flashlight. When we came back from our midterms this morning, the internet wasn't working. It was connected, but nothing was happening. Again, we had to find other things to do. Kiro had his paper to write, but I just messed around seeing that the only thing I have in the near future is my german midterm on monday. We amused ourselves for awhile and then Kiro left for class. I sat here getting ready to read my book (which I will), and just as I was about to start, the internet came back.
Now that I'm sufficiently up to date, I can rest easy and read my book.
Now that I'm sufficiently up to date, I can rest easy and read my book.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Water Polo
So I made it to Sofia last night around 7:30 and got to the pool after some confusion and taxi fares. I met the coach and president etc. and swam around for a while because they weren't really practicing. I threw the ball around w/ one guy from a different team who was huge, and a really good shooter. To my amazement, it was his first practice in 2 years! I played goalie for a while (meaning he launched balls at me) and then made my way home on the late train. After seeing what it was like, it would be really beneficial for me to play with these guys because they are all much better than me. The problem is that it is that it would be way too expensive to go there often. It's going to cost me around 20 leva a trip to get there and back, so it isn't really worth the amount of practice that I would get, even though I really want to do it! I think I'm going to call the coach and ask him to send me a workout schedule and things that I can do on my own, and hopefully the pool here in Blagoevgrad is bearable.
In other news, I got a 98% on my science midterm, so I'm pretty much set in that class, I hope. I had my falsifications midterm yesterday, and pretty much no one in the room knew what the questions were about. It should be interesting to see what she says about our work.
In other news, I got a 98% on my science midterm, so I'm pretty much set in that class, I hope. I had my falsifications midterm yesterday, and pretty much no one in the room knew what the questions were about. It should be interesting to see what she says about our work.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Nice trip home
The bus I took last night left at 8:30pm and the shuttle picked me up at 7 from the tourism office. For some reason, most Turkish buses have stewardesses (I would be PC, but bus attendant just sounds bad)! We only had to get out of the bus once at the border, where it felt like it was 10 degrees below. I got into Sofia around 6:25am and found a bus leaving for Blagoevgrad at 6:40. I finally made it back to Skapto around 8:30 and just dumped all my stuff on the floor. I uploaded, tagged, and described my 231 pictures seeing that I had time for it. I ordered pizza from retro for the first time on my own, and after some confusion I got my food around 12:20. I think i'm going to lay all my presents out that i've bought so far so that i can see who i still have to buy for. I don't have that many people left, so it shouldn't be too hard. Speaking of presents, i found out today that mom, dad, and kari are going w/ on a diving trip to Hondorus. I would be sore about it, but this means that i'm really the only person out of the four of us getting any real presents for christmas, lol.
My postcard reached Frau Burgess, my H.S. german teacher the other day, she was happy about it. Now we just have to see how much longer it takes Carolyn's package to reach her, seeing that I sent the card and the package on the same day.
Hopefully I will be able to get a hold of the coach/president of the water polo team that was suggested for me tomorrow. I visibly lost a little weight after my trip and my stomach definitely shrank a little, nothing a weeks worth of canteen can't fix.
I have 3 tests this week. Falsifications doesn't really matter because i've read everything and grades don't really matter there. Marketing was pretty easy last time, but still have to study for the one, but german is going to be the toughest. I haven't really taken a midterm at this level of a language before, so I'm just going to have to practice as much as possible until wed.
It's kind of funny, towards the end of my trip this week, I missed AUBG like a second home. Funny how an uncomfortable bed, schoolwork and tests can be welcoming thoughts.
My postcard reached Frau Burgess, my H.S. german teacher the other day, she was happy about it. Now we just have to see how much longer it takes Carolyn's package to reach her, seeing that I sent the card and the package on the same day.
Hopefully I will be able to get a hold of the coach/president of the water polo team that was suggested for me tomorrow. I visibly lost a little weight after my trip and my stomach definitely shrank a little, nothing a weeks worth of canteen can't fix.
I have 3 tests this week. Falsifications doesn't really matter because i've read everything and grades don't really matter there. Marketing was pretty easy last time, but still have to study for the one, but german is going to be the toughest. I haven't really taken a midterm at this level of a language before, so I'm just going to have to practice as much as possible until wed.
It's kind of funny, towards the end of my trip this week, I missed AUBG like a second home. Funny how an uncomfortable bed, schoolwork and tests can be welcoming thoughts.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Fall Break
So, I have nothing to do and it's snowing/raining outside so I may as well write this incredibly long entry.
Night of 27th, Friday
First we had to get to Athens. we took the train and got to thessaloniki about 1.5hrs late only to find that our connecting train had left an hour ago. We had to upgrade our tickets for 22 euro so that we could take the next train to athens instead of waiting until 7 in the morning. Everyone was pissed, but i just laughed because there was nothing we could do.
Saturday, 28th
All of us went our separate ways in the morning. Josh, Sheyla and I went walking around and did as much as we could because sheyla was leaving on her flight later that day. We found a nice hill that had a great view of the whole city. After dropping Sheyla off, josh and i decided to walk to Pireaus, the port town of Athens. It was a REALLY long walk. We must have walked about 5 mi on the highway before we gave in and took a taxi, even though we were almost there. We had something to drink and saw the sights and decided to go back to athens before it got dark. We found out the it cost 0.50 to take the bus back to Athens, so we went that way. We went out that night and Josh and i wanted to show everyone the hill we found and see the city by night. Unfortunately there were riot police all over the neighborhood, so we decided to pass. we went out for a drink and I had a really good mojito, probably one of the best drinks i've ever had. Sunday, 29th
We made our way to the Acropolis, where i got in for free because i was right on the youth cutoff of 19. we took a lot of pictures and then went to ancient agora, city ruins. Then we went to the Olympic complex where walked around and took pictures of the various stadiums, etc. going back to the train station we saw a massive building that looked like a mall. Of course the americans almost wet their pants and we went inside. for some reason all the stores were closed, but the restaurants were open. Trent spotted something and it turned out to be a Hooters. We went up and I had 3 mile island wings. They were delicious. I think i had more on my face than in my stomach, haha. It was Josh's birthday on the upcoming friday, so we had to embarrass him and announce it was his birthday. They made him cheer while on his chair, so much fun. That night we were in our room and trent walked over Preston's bed and a part of it cracked. Preston then had the great idea of testing its strength and broke the bed further. the next hour was spent reorganizing and arranging the bed. Josh and I then went back to the acropolis to see it at night and get a good view of the city, it was great.
Monday, 30th
The next day the weather sucked, it was overcast and was going to rain. Josh and i had planned to go to the beach, so we did anyway. We visited a sea turtle rescue center where they had leather backs and green turtles. Then we got seriously wet and after getting lost and even more soaked, we made it back to our hotel. We pretty much stayed in that night and trent and I bought some beers categorized by number. they were really good and all pretty different.
Tuesday, 31st
We went to the port city via the metro to see when we had to leave for the ferry and how much it was going to cost. They told us that due to the weather, the ferry probably wasn't going to be running, so we had to revamp our plans.We decided to go back to the mall considering that the weather was getting worse. We went to a best buy-like store that had free internet so that we could cancel our reservations. After that Trent, preston and james went to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch and Josh and I went to an interesting restaurant. I had a really good dish the i will definitely make when I come home. we walked around and that night they decided to go back to Blagoevgrad because they couldn't take anymore traveling and trent had to be in sofia. I definitely wasn't going back to the dorms, so i decided to go to Istanbul. Some guy at the train station about our age on many kinds of drugs was talking to us, but at the top of his voice. He attracted a lot of attention and after he bought us a beer to apologize.
Wednesday, 1st
This entire day was spent getting to Istanbul, I left Athens at 11pm, 31st, and got to istanbul at 10pm, 1st. 23hrs of traveling fun, at least the weather was much better. I even had the exact same crappy sleeping car that we had between paris and milan, but i managed to sleep all the way. I had to call the hostel to pick me up from the trains station, but the centers were closed so i had to use a hotel's phone. Eventually i got here and stayed up for a while before hitting the sack.
Thursday, 2nd
Because of the good weather, I decided to see all the mosques and do all the outside sight seeing i could. I went to the palace, but decided not to go because of the price. on the way back, I ran into peter and the polish girls from AUBG! What are the odds? he only knew i was in istanbul because i had said so on facebook. anyway, we went into the museum and saw some incredible stuff. there was a 5r carat diamond right next to an 84 carat diamond(found in a garbage dump and bought for 3 spoons). There was john the Baptist's arm and skull, and an entire room that is considered holy in the Muslim religion. It was the first time i got goosebumps in a museum. After all the things in the museum, we went to the Grand Bazaar, tons of fun. After that we went back to our respective hostels, and met up later for a drink. By the end of the night, everyone in my hostel knew peter. The owner of the hostel was also drinking, and decided to take us in a taxi for kebabs on the other side of town. It was crazy but really fun.
Friday, 3rd
Peter came to my hostel to get me in the morning, I had slept in and had 5 min to get ready. We were with the girls and they wanted to go to the blue mosque, which peter and I had already been to. We stood outside and waited in the weather that had decided to worsen once again. They took forever! we froze and eventually decided to part ways and peter and i went back to the bazaar. I bought so much stuff. I got something for dad, mom, carolyn and kari. I've almost covered the christmas list. peter had to leave that night so we said goodbye and I went back to my hostel. There was supposed to be a big soccer match that night, so myself and 7 others from my hostel made the trek over to the asian side of istanbul. We finally made it and thoroughly enjoyed the match, it was really fun. After the match i got separated from the group and finally made it home about an hr after everyone else.
Today, 4th
When I woke up, it was snowing, in Istanbul! Everyone that i had made friends with here was leaving today, so i got their respective email addresses and said goodbye. I took some pictures of the mosques in the snow,went to the travel agency and bought my bus ticket home, and then went to a turkish bath. Keep in mind that i hadn't showered in a few days because i didn't have a towel, soap, or flip flops; so this wasn't pleasure, it was necessary. I paid 35 lira and it was amazing. There's nothing like getting a soapy bath/massage from a huge turkish guy. After I was very clean and relaxed, i bought some turkish delight and some food for the bus and came back here.
This is my account of one of the best weeks of my life, I've traveled really far, met some great people, and done wonderful things. I'm really glad i came to istanbul because now i don't feel obligated to travel very far anymore. Now I just have to worry about my two midterms next week! Hope all is well back home and I'm almost done my shopping list, so don't worry. Hopefully i can fit everything.
P.S. Preston wasn't that bad, you just get used to him
P.P.S Sorry if the spelling/grammar isn't tip top, I don't feel like reading through this entire entry
Night of 27th, Friday
First we had to get to Athens. we took the train and got to thessaloniki about 1.5hrs late only to find that our connecting train had left an hour ago. We had to upgrade our tickets for 22 euro so that we could take the next train to athens instead of waiting until 7 in the morning. Everyone was pissed, but i just laughed because there was nothing we could do.
Saturday, 28th
All of us went our separate ways in the morning. Josh, Sheyla and I went walking around and did as much as we could because sheyla was leaving on her flight later that day. We found a nice hill that had a great view of the whole city. After dropping Sheyla off, josh and i decided to walk to Pireaus, the port town of Athens. It was a REALLY long walk. We must have walked about 5 mi on the highway before we gave in and took a taxi, even though we were almost there. We had something to drink and saw the sights and decided to go back to athens before it got dark. We found out the it cost 0.50 to take the bus back to Athens, so we went that way. We went out that night and Josh and i wanted to show everyone the hill we found and see the city by night. Unfortunately there were riot police all over the neighborhood, so we decided to pass. we went out for a drink and I had a really good mojito, probably one of the best drinks i've ever had. Sunday, 29th
We made our way to the Acropolis, where i got in for free because i was right on the youth cutoff of 19. we took a lot of pictures and then went to ancient agora, city ruins. Then we went to the Olympic complex where walked around and took pictures of the various stadiums, etc. going back to the train station we saw a massive building that looked like a mall. Of course the americans almost wet their pants and we went inside. for some reason all the stores were closed, but the restaurants were open. Trent spotted something and it turned out to be a Hooters. We went up and I had 3 mile island wings. They were delicious. I think i had more on my face than in my stomach, haha. It was Josh's birthday on the upcoming friday, so we had to embarrass him and announce it was his birthday. They made him cheer while on his chair, so much fun. That night we were in our room and trent walked over Preston's bed and a part of it cracked. Preston then had the great idea of testing its strength and broke the bed further. the next hour was spent reorganizing and arranging the bed. Josh and I then went back to the acropolis to see it at night and get a good view of the city, it was great.
Monday, 30th
The next day the weather sucked, it was overcast and was going to rain. Josh and i had planned to go to the beach, so we did anyway. We visited a sea turtle rescue center where they had leather backs and green turtles. Then we got seriously wet and after getting lost and even more soaked, we made it back to our hotel. We pretty much stayed in that night and trent and I bought some beers categorized by number. they were really good and all pretty different.
Tuesday, 31st
We went to the port city via the metro to see when we had to leave for the ferry and how much it was going to cost. They told us that due to the weather, the ferry probably wasn't going to be running, so we had to revamp our plans.We decided to go back to the mall considering that the weather was getting worse. We went to a best buy-like store that had free internet so that we could cancel our reservations. After that Trent, preston and james went to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch and Josh and I went to an interesting restaurant. I had a really good dish the i will definitely make when I come home. we walked around and that night they decided to go back to Blagoevgrad because they couldn't take anymore traveling and trent had to be in sofia. I definitely wasn't going back to the dorms, so i decided to go to Istanbul. Some guy at the train station about our age on many kinds of drugs was talking to us, but at the top of his voice. He attracted a lot of attention and after he bought us a beer to apologize.
Wednesday, 1st
This entire day was spent getting to Istanbul, I left Athens at 11pm, 31st, and got to istanbul at 10pm, 1st. 23hrs of traveling fun, at least the weather was much better. I even had the exact same crappy sleeping car that we had between paris and milan, but i managed to sleep all the way. I had to call the hostel to pick me up from the trains station, but the centers were closed so i had to use a hotel's phone. Eventually i got here and stayed up for a while before hitting the sack.
Thursday, 2nd
Because of the good weather, I decided to see all the mosques and do all the outside sight seeing i could. I went to the palace, but decided not to go because of the price. on the way back, I ran into peter and the polish girls from AUBG! What are the odds? he only knew i was in istanbul because i had said so on facebook. anyway, we went into the museum and saw some incredible stuff. there was a 5r carat diamond right next to an 84 carat diamond(found in a garbage dump and bought for 3 spoons). There was john the Baptist's arm and skull, and an entire room that is considered holy in the Muslim religion. It was the first time i got goosebumps in a museum. After all the things in the museum, we went to the Grand Bazaar, tons of fun. After that we went back to our respective hostels, and met up later for a drink. By the end of the night, everyone in my hostel knew peter. The owner of the hostel was also drinking, and decided to take us in a taxi for kebabs on the other side of town. It was crazy but really fun.
Friday, 3rd
Peter came to my hostel to get me in the morning, I had slept in and had 5 min to get ready. We were with the girls and they wanted to go to the blue mosque, which peter and I had already been to. We stood outside and waited in the weather that had decided to worsen once again. They took forever! we froze and eventually decided to part ways and peter and i went back to the bazaar. I bought so much stuff. I got something for dad, mom, carolyn and kari. I've almost covered the christmas list. peter had to leave that night so we said goodbye and I went back to my hostel. There was supposed to be a big soccer match that night, so myself and 7 others from my hostel made the trek over to the asian side of istanbul. We finally made it and thoroughly enjoyed the match, it was really fun. After the match i got separated from the group and finally made it home about an hr after everyone else.
Today, 4th
When I woke up, it was snowing, in Istanbul! Everyone that i had made friends with here was leaving today, so i got their respective email addresses and said goodbye. I took some pictures of the mosques in the snow,went to the travel agency and bought my bus ticket home, and then went to a turkish bath. Keep in mind that i hadn't showered in a few days because i didn't have a towel, soap, or flip flops; so this wasn't pleasure, it was necessary. I paid 35 lira and it was amazing. There's nothing like getting a soapy bath/massage from a huge turkish guy. After I was very clean and relaxed, i bought some turkish delight and some food for the bus and came back here.
This is my account of one of the best weeks of my life, I've traveled really far, met some great people, and done wonderful things. I'm really glad i came to istanbul because now i don't feel obligated to travel very far anymore. Now I just have to worry about my two midterms next week! Hope all is well back home and I'm almost done my shopping list, so don't worry. Hopefully i can fit everything.
P.S. Preston wasn't that bad, you just get used to him
P.P.S Sorry if the spelling/grammar isn't tip top, I don't feel like reading through this entire entry
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