The Last Leg

This post comes to you after flying back to the states and sleeping for a year and a day. Or maybe it was just a really good few days. It's hard for me to tell. In any case I PROMISE I AM NOT DEAD. I'll probably try to update this every week, given my insatiable need to occupy all hours of my waking life with some form of activity (I am rather terrible at this, and so often feel antsy when I'm, say, sitting down to write a blog, or reading about cats on the internet).

We now resume our story.

Last Tuesday (not tomorrow) was my last full day in Istanbul. Jeremy was out to work in the morning again, and Sonia and I had made plans to see another palace before meeting up with one of Jeremy's friends at 1PM. Little did we know both of us would have a terrible nights sleep, resulting in an extremely slow wakeup routine.

We got the the palace around 1 and met up with Safya. The palace was written off as a failure. Instead we traveled for the first time north of the gigantic bridge, to Bebek (stopping in a cafe for some much-needed caffeination along the way). It was gorgeous.

HI NEW FRIEND

Reach, man! You can do it!

We saw this tower thing in the distance and decided to hike up a huge hill to climb it. Turns out it is a museum thing, and you aren't allowed inside. We climbed hills for about twenty minutes, all for naught. Sadface.

Also during this time the roads decided to get crazy weird. No dividing lines, no pedestrian access, all deadly cars. It was like playing a really poor rendition of Frogger.

TAKE THAT, WALL!

This is my riding-the-bus face. I have no idea why people keep calling the cops on me.

After the failed attempt to climb The Unattainable Tower, we went back to Kadikoy and found a minibus to some kind of huge bazaar.

Inside the Deathrap of Terror.

Hooray, crap! Lots and lots of crap!

I used this opportunity to buy some useless baubles for family members upon my return. This decision conflicted so greatly with my normal frugality and poor ability to make shopping decisions that we wound up wandering the bazaar for something like two hours. It was ridiculous, and I would apologize to my companions if I still had the remnants of a heart beating within my star-forged body. Alas, I do not. It was taken away from me when I obtained my engineering degree.

Taking down tents looks way more fun in a bazaar setting than a middle-of-nowhere-camping setting.

By the way, this is what traffic looks like in Istanbul ALL THE TIME. I am really not kidding when I say it is terrible.

The night ended with a meal at a fish restaurant. Jeremy joined us, we had a good meal, and Safya retired to the European side as Jeremy, Sonia and I took to some bars for a few last drinks. We returned home, I convinced Jeremy to finally crack open one of the beers I brought for him, and we ended the night on a lager-y note (other notes included a faint hint of honey, hops, and what almost seemed like a caramel tone. I'll have to try that lager again, I honestly forget). Also, Coupling. Jeremy has addicted me to the UK version of Coupling. Curse you, Jeremy.

After that, I had a difficult time sleeping at all, was up around 5AM to finish packing up, was seen off to the docks around 6, and headed back to the airport.

Goodbye, Turkey!

I slept some on the plane, read through most of If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino, and crashed for an extended period of time.

Boston is beautiful right now. The weather is just cool enough to warrant a light jacket, the sun is out, and my work seems to have forgiven my extended absence by not doing anything with the projects I'm assigned to.

More to come when I have a better idea what to write about, and how!

-Hyde