Istanbul Pics

Istanbul

Ahhh Istanbul! Although it was very difficult to leave Landshut, it was time to head to Turkey. It had been a decade since my last time there and it truly was like coming home. After a very mundane flight, we began our decent into cloudy Istanbul. The landing was one of the scariest of my life, but after a few deep breaths, I was on my way. I was greeted in the airport by Swine Flu hysteria. The virus had finally made its way to Turkey and the media had blown it WAY out of proportion. Growing up in Turkey I was use to seeing the TNP (Turkish National Police) carrying machine guns, so that didn't phase me. However, seeing them and every airport employee donning N-95 respirators and latex gloves was a little unnerving. I figure after all the countries I have gone through and all the crowded hostels I have stayed at, luck has been on my side. So Inshallah my luck with continue! After taking an hour bus ride from the airport to Taksim Square, I was greeted by Seyit, my buddy Ozkan's brother. After a short car ride, I arrived in Bebek (which means “Baby” in Turkish) which is Istanbul's nicest neighborhood. My friend Ozkan's apartment is right on the Bosporus and a very short walk to a really neat, cute, but expensive area. When I say expensive, a bottle of beer in a bar is 12-18 YTL, which is roughtly 6-9 Euros.....not that I drink that much anyway :) When Ozkan got off work, we sat in his living room, gazed at the Bosphorus, sipped Remy Martin, and got caught up on the last ten years. We then went out for some beers and discussed business ideas, our dreams and aspirations, and various other things.

The following morning was my birthday and unfortunately Ozkan had to work during the day but he left me a key and I set off on a long walk along the Bosphorus. My birthday also happens to be the birthday of the Turkish Republic so the whole town was in full celebration mode. Flags lined the streets and most business were closed. I walked from Bebek, through Kurucesme, through Ortakly, through Besiktas, to Tophane.....roughly 8 kilometers. I was overwhelmed by olfactory induced memories and familiar sounds and sights. It was so nice to hear Turkish, see the street vendors, smell the cooking, and truly be back! I found a nice little Kebab restaurant on the water and sat down by myself for my birthday lunch. I had all my favorites.....Adana Kebab with Pilaf, grilled eggplant, Turkish tea, and an Elma Nargile (apple hookah water pipe). As I finished my meal, and began enjoying my Nargile, the huge ancient Mosque of Tophane began the call to prayer and in that instant I was so incredibly happy and glad I had made it back here. I am talking goosebumps! That night Ozkan took me and his father out to a nice dinner on the sea where I enjoyed all the best fresh sea food and Raki I could stand!

Another one of my friends from Izmir flew in the next day from Kyrgyzstan, and we all met up for lunch. It was so great to catch up with old friends, talk about our days on the wrestling team, and reminisce. We were all going to catch a Besiktas match (soccer) that night but the weather got progressively worse throughout the day so we just decided to meet up later for drinks. After another delicious dinner I ended up being the fifth wheel on a night out on the town. Ozkan and his pseudo girlfriend and Andew and his girlfriend met me in Taksim square and we checked out a few local hotspots, but the consistent downpour made the night rather difficult. Tomorrow I head to Izmir via ferry and car....I am so excited I doubt I will be able to sleep tonight.

Eberstein

So it is time for some work up at the castle! So Felix, Uschi, and I (plus the two dogs at our feet) piled into the Mercedes Sprinter Van and headed up to Eberstein. We decided to go and visit Gisi on the way up for coffee and cake which was really nice. We stopped for a few hours in Marburg and enjoyed good conversation, coffee, plum cake, and sifting through photo albums. As the sun was setting we continued on to the castle. We arrived a little after 9 pm and Felix used my cell phone as a flash light to navigate his way through the back of the castle to the front door to let us in. After a delicious dinner I fell asleep quite quickly after an exhausting 8 Hrs in the car. The next five days were filled with odd jobs around the castle which included sheet rocking the courtyard entry hallway, sheet rocking the stairway leading to the second floor, cutting firewood, removing trees and debris from the moat, cutting the grass, trimming the hedges, and general maintenance around the property. The weather was terrible for the first four days.....it rained for most of the day and night....but as Felix said "It is a good thing it is raining...we might actually get something done inside instead of plonking around in the garden." We were lucky enough to be in the Harz during the Stag's mating season which was truly phenomenal. You can't imagine the sounds that these deers would emit. It was a cross between a lion roaring and a goat dying.

Barcelona

So I got word last month that one of my best friends from California was going to be in Barcelona....so I thought Espana here I come. After staying an over night in Vienna, I caught my train to Linz. Ryanair has a small airport there with cheap, direct flights to Girona....which was close enough to Barcelona. After only fifteen minutes on the train, it broke down! I sat in the heat for two hours while another engine came from Vienna. Lucky for me, since I had never been to Linz before I left 6 hours before my flight. I made it to the gate an hour before take off and hurried through security of the worlds tiniest airport. As many of you know....flying is not exactly one of my favorite things in the world.....but the flight was fine...just the landing was a little....hmm....bouncy. The temperature was perfect in Girona....mid 80's and I caught the bus to the center of Barcelona. When I arrived at the Nord Bus Depot I was too tired from the past week of camping, traveling, and not sleeping so I spoiled myself and caught a Taxi. Lucky for me Taxis in Spain aren't nearly as expensive as most of Europe. The hostel turned out to be outside of the city center a bit, but was absolutely perfect. The staff was wonderful and the hostel was very clean and nice. Hannah was already there along with her friend Ryan from Santa Cruz. It was already pretty late and we were all tired so we decided to have a mellow night and just go out for some Tapas. We tried a local restaurant that was recommended by the very lovely Juana who worked at the hostel. The tapas were amazing and the Sangria was delicious....the best part was that is was not that expensive either! The rest of the night was spent in the hostel meeting new friends and enjoying catching up with Hannah.
The first night in the hostel was BRUTAL. Some jackass in the bunk next to me had way too much to drink and was snoring so loudly I could not fall asleep. I tried everything from punching the locker next to him to wake him up, clapping really loudly, to finally flogging him with my pillow. None of it worked :( Oh well...it is part of the charm of a hostel I suppose. In the morning we decided to hop on the metro and explore the city. We arrived at the city center and wandered around La Rambla for hours. It was really nice to see all the street performers in truly exotic and wild costumes and soak up some sun. We walked past the harbors and all the way to Barceloneta, the main "tourist" beach. The water was perfect and we immediately jumped in for a swim. Afterwards we lounged around on the beach chairs until some guy tried to get us to rent them for 5 Euros.....That is when we decided to keep exploring. We wandered through the Gothic Quarter, admiring all the funky architecture, beautiful murals on the sides of the buildings, and the narrow streets. We found what looked to be the most authentic restaurant in the area and decided to get some Tapas and try Paella. Our waitress was an absolute bitch and seemed extremely annoyed that we were all going to share the Paella. She also continually corrected our Spanish....this is where I learned the huge differences between Mexican Spanish and "proper" Spanish. The food was a disappointment, but when in the presence of such good company it did not matter. After cleaning up back at the hostel, a group of us decided to hit the town. We went to a few bars and ended up at the beach with a oddly mixed group containing French, German, Spanish, Canadian, and Irish. It was an interesting night...I will spare you the details.

The next day I managed to convince Hannah and Ryan we needed to rent scooters to properly see the city. So we hopped the subway back to the beach and rented 150cc Scooters. Hannah was terrified at first (and so was I) but we adapted quickly to the intense traffic and crazy roundabouts. Ryan was so excited he actually smiled! So we set off to Gaudi Park......we lost Ryan within ten minutes and decided to try and find it anyway. We ended up totally lost but somehow managed to get to Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família which was under renovations but was still absolutely spectacular. It was also very very weird at the same time. We managed to navigate our way to Parc Güell, which was beautiful and also very strange. Some of Gaudi's work reminded me of some fantasy world, like Alice in Wonderland, that had severe drug themed undertones. We then scooted to the top of the mountain overlooking the entire city. This was perhaps my favorite part of my trip....the view was spectacular and it was very tranquil up there. That night, our lovely Juana took us all out to some hot spots on the town. I could not make it past 3:30....Everyone called me a wimp :( I think the rest of the group got back around 6 am....crazy people :)

The last few days were full of site seeing, sun bathing, swimming, and hanging out with old friends and making new ones. I decided it would be smart to take a ferry to Italy and take the train back to Landshut, hence avoiding air travel. The boat ride from Barcelona to Genoa started out amazing.....beautiful views....ect....but I forgot to pack food for myself and was forced to eat on the boat....It was my most expensive meal yet. They announced that the EuroCafe was now open as a cheaper alternative to the restaurant. It was a Buffet with no posted prices. So I got a bowl of pasta, a roll, a Salad, a water, a small bottle of wine, and a little piece of meat......27 Euros....I wanted to walk out of there but there were people in line behind me waiting to pay....so......oh well.....at least the food was AMAZING...and the bottle of wine was cheaper than my bottle of water....that made me smile. I slept that night in the cramped 2nd class seating area, but thanks to a very sweet friend I had an amazing book to read and managed to get a little sleep too. Once I arrived in Genoa I discovered I missed the direct trains to Munich...but since I had done this trek before I caught the local train to Verona....then took the local train to the Austrian boarder where I managed to catch the last train to Innsbruck. After 32 hours of straight traveling, I arrived back in Landshut to a heaping bowl of pasta and my wonderful family......What did I Learn? Stop being such a wimp and catch the hour and a half flight back next time.

Bratislava, Slovakia

After a short train ride I arrived in Bratislava. I was almost certain I had missed the main train station but something told me to wait one more stop. It appeared that the train was leaving the city entirely, but then at the last moment it looped around and arrived at the main train station. It was a different scene the the main stations in most of western Europe, but it was charming none the less. I had booked a hostel close by ahead of time which ended up being one of the coolest hostels of my trip so far. It was located only a 5 min walk from the station. It was a very modern and hip hostel and had a Dungeon themed bar in the basement. Apparently there is an American horror movie called Hostel, which took place in Bratislava and involved American tourists being held in a dungeon and tortured. So the hostel ran with this theme, and the bar had a bloody bath tub as a table, dummies stuffed in torture chambers, and very interesting pictures on the wall. It was already late in the evening, but I wandered down the road to find some food and stumbled across a fancy looking Italian place. I was too hungry to keep walking, so I sat down and hoped for the best. It ended up being the best meal since leaving Landshut. I got a huge plate of Pasta Carbonera, a salad, and a beer for a whopping 4.70 Euro. I remember that Bratislava was cheap, but I had no idea! After Ireland and Holland, it was a blessing being in a place where food was still cheap. I ended back in the Dungeon Bar and met a group of 10 Brits that were enjoying just having finishing high school. We all marveled at the cheapness of the bar and enjoyed 1 euro Pints and conversations ranging from music, to religion, to politics, to history....and the bar didn't close til 4 am....It was a really fun night! The next day I decided to take in the sites on my own. I wandered all around the old town, which was beautiful! The main castle was under going repairs but was still amazing based on the sheer size and location. It overlooked the whole town from the top of a huge hill, with breathtaking views of the Danube. This castle was once home to the Habsburgs when Bratislava was the capitol of the kingdom of Hungary. After enjoying yet another tasty and cheap meal, I ran into my British friends and we all decided to go to "the Beach." It was a man made beach on the opposite side of the Danube and it was beautiful! We immediately started a game of soccer on the beach pitch and pretty soon a whole mix of international player joined us. We continued doing touristy stuff afterwards and then went grocery shopping so we could cook dinner at the hostel. For the first time in my travels, it was more expensive to cook in the hostel than to eat a meal at a restaurant.

St. Polten

Off to a techno trance festival in St. Polten Austria for days of camping in beautiful weather! Or so I thought. The trip from Landshut to St. Polten started off beautiful and sunny but got progressively worse as I neared the town where the festival was being held. Kiwi and Moni met me there and thanks to Moni's job as a reporter I got a free VIP 3 days pass to the festival. A friend of mine that I met in Scotland joined up later and we enjoyed a live set by Infected Mushroom, an amazing DJ. We decided not to camp the 1st night because it was really raining hard and we got a room at a bed and breakfast in town. The second day I was expecting the festival to be in full swing, but it ended up not opening until 6 pm. So after setting up the camp and securing our belongings, we ventured into town to get supplies. It was only a short bus ride into town and we loaded up on food and beer. The town was quaint and beautiful and was apparently not prepared for the festival at all. That night Faithless, one of my all time favorite electronic groups played, and even though it was pouring....loads of faithful fans of faithless stood in the rain and listened to an amazing 2 hr set. The weather finally broke the last day and I was able to see Paul Van Dyk, arguably the worlds most famous DJ, play an amazing set.....My friend Amanda woke me just in time to catch him! Now...off to Bratislava.

Bologna/Ravenna Italy

Those of you who know me well probably know that this next trip wasn't the greatest of ideas....but against better judgment I went to Italy to visit Sara. After sitting on a train for 10 Hrs (having had to switch three times) Sara met me in the train station. We went out for a few beers and caught up on all the things that had happened since the last time we had seen each other. It was great to see her again and it was nice to be surrounded by the Italian language (still one of my favorites). The following morning we took off to Ravenna to catch some sun and lay around on the beaches. It was a really cool little beach town and reminded me a lot of Turkey (ie Cesme and Bodrum). There were restaurants, bars, and shops lining the streets and people zooming by on vespas. The beach was spectacular and we met up with a group of her friends there and enjoyed playing volleyball and sunbathing. I ended up getting kinda burned after being in sunless Germany for the last few weeks. After the beach we all went down to this beach club and had a few drinks. The DJ was playing a very interesting mix of music and I got a kick out of watching all the Italians dance....Afterwards we all ate extremely fresh seafood and enjoyed some tasty wine. The rest of the night didn't go so well....as Sara and I had a disagreement....no reason to get into details...but I ended up at the Bologna train station at 6 am.....ready to sit on a train for 10 hrs north...I was in Italy less than 48 hrs....oh well...you live and you learn....I was fortunate enough to meet a very nice American couple in their 60's on the train ride back who were kind enough to share their lunch with me and great conversation.