Istanbul, Turkey, Europe

Today was a nice chill day in Istanbul. I got up this morning at about 8am and had breakfast in the hostel. It was just a simple breakfast. Cereal, hard boiled eggs, bread, Nutella, and cucumbers. I sat with George, the American guy in my dorm, and chatted for a while. He’s in his 50’s and has been travelling around the world for almost two years. It was cool to hear about the places he’s been and compare our notes on places we’ve both been.

I went down to our room a couple of times to try and get ready but there was a guy in one of the bunks still sleeping. This is one of the bad things about staying in a hostel because you can’t really treat the room as your own, because you’re only paying for one of the beds in it. So a guy came in at about 2:30am and woke us up with his phone flashlight, and then he slept until at least noon. So this meant that we couldn’t turn the light on which made it difficult to get ready. Finally at 11:30am I just turned the light on. That’s just ridiculous.

I headed out for a walk through the city and finally got lucky to have a beautiful day. I walked over to Eminonu which is where all the tour boats leave from on the Bosphorous. I hadn’t planned on going today, but there was a tour boat leaving about 20 minutes from when I got there so I hopped on. It was a short cruise (two hours) but it only cost 10 lira (£3), so I went for it. It was really nice. There was no guide explaining what we were seeing. It was simply a big ferry boat that went up one side of the river, and came back on the other side. But it was a nice way to spend a couple hours in the sun.

I walked back through town and stopped at a couple of little shops, not to buy anything, but just to see what kind of crap they sell around here. I went for dinner at the same little cafe near my hostel that I went to last night. It was really good food, at a good price, and really nice staff. They were very happy to see that I was back for a second night. I’ve started reading a book called Six Years by Harlan Coben and I’m totally hooked. I heard about this guy on WEEI about four months ago when he came on to promote his new book. I thought I would give it a shot so I started the book yesterday on my flight from Cappadocia and I am almost finished with it. And I don’t read. But he’s got me hooked, so I’m going to buy a few more of his books to take with me for all the upcoming bus and train rides.

I’m back at the hostel now and really looking forward to getting back to Antique Hostel tomorrow. It’s got a much better vibe and better places to just chill. Since I’ve had to take a top bunk here, it’s awful to try and relax in a top bunk, so I am resorting to sitting in the breakfast room. But no one else hangs out here, so I’m constantly on my own. That’s not at all the point of staying in a hostel. Tomorrow I’ll be in a better place though.

Side note: When I got to Cappadocia a few days ago I couldn’t find my Boston Red Sox hat. I was pretty pissed because it’s not like me to lose things, and I’ve only been on the road for a few weeks. I went across the street this morning to Antique Hostel on the off chance I left and there, and BINGO! They had it waiting for me at the front desk. Lucky me!