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