At Last

Well, this looks like it will be the last post for this lovely blog. I can't believe 5 months have gone by already! wahhh

So I went to Turkey on June 9th for a week. It was pretty amazing but it would have been better if I had someone to go with. I started in Istanbul with a walking tour of the european side of the city. I was with one other Australian couple, so it was a really small tour.We hit up the Blue Mosque, Hegia Sofya, and the Grand Bazaar. The guide sort of left us there, and so I spent the remainder of the afternoon, or at least the next hour, trying to find my hotel. I literally had no idea where I was in relation to it, so I figure finding it in an hour isn't really that bad at all! But, it was like 38 degrees, so I was pretty dead when I got back to the hotel. I had a shower and a nap and then decided to hunt down some dinner. The men yelling about kebaps on the street scared me, so i decided to go somewhere nice-ish. So I sat down and ordered my salad with chicken, and then the waiter comes back with this huge appy platter "compliments of the restaurant". Sweet, free food. I also got free wine and dessert...I think they felt bad I was eating alone.
The next day I got picked up at 6:30 (BLARG)to drive to Galipoli on the Asian side. This I could have cut out as it was just cemetery after cemetery...and while it was semi interesting, my interest fades in 40 degree heat on the top of some random hill looking at graves. Yeehaw. But, that night I stayed in Canakkale, which was like a bigger version of Koper, so I felt more at home.
The next day I went to Troy, which, while still exciting, was a bit disappointing. All the stuff that's supposed to be there is in other museums in Berlin and Russia. LAME! But i saw some really old stuff and stood on the ground where Hector was killed. I was in greek mythology nerd heaven. The tour guide I had that day was a Turkish version of me basically, so we got along great. Plus there was a super douchy american man on our tour and he kept giving her a hard time, so I helped to reassure her she was doing a great job (because I knew all the myths and things as well). She took us to Pergamon as well, which has the steepest theatre in antiquity. Holy balls was that hard to climb. But totally worth it for the view. We also went to a carpet factory and saw how they make silk and carpets. It was interesting until they trapped me in a room alone and tried to sell me things. I managed to escape, but the man followed me down the hall yelling "Only 200 lira!!" My australian couple helped protect me after that. The next day was my Ephasus tour which began at the Virgin Mary's house. Like her ACTUAL house where she died. It was pretty incredible actually. Then we drove to Ephasus, which is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. About 6% of the city is uncovered, and it blew my mind. Only my pictures can explain it. Also, it was 42 degrees that day with not a cloud in the sky..that also blew my mind, literally. My tour guide kept 'guiding' me under his umbrella for shade because i am "a ginger, you will die in the sun, and if one of my guests dies, it looks bad on me". There was also an old australian man who offered shade under his umbrella if I should need it. People were nice to me because I am young and I was alone haha. That night, I watched world cup in my little hotel in the middle of nowhere. The old man who owned it was so sweet, he made air blown popcorn for everyone while the game was on. He also chased me up the stairs to tell me that i could eat dinner for "ONLY 5 EUROS!". He then continued to give me a tour of the buffet, highlighting the soup table..."there is a different soup every day. Different..every day. A different soup...every day!"...Man at soup table:"Yes, different every day!!". It seemed to be their main selling point. It was pretty good soup though, I'll give them that.
The next day I had a free day before my night bus back to Istanbul, so I did an extra day trip to Pamukkale (it means cotton castle). It is a mountain with an ass load of calcium deposits which are incredible. I could barely believe my eyes. You can walk in the thermal waters of the calcium deposits all the way down the side of the mountain...it looks like you are swimming in snow! if you are in Turkey ever, GO THERE. Temperatures that day hit an all time high of 46 degrees. And I didn't even burn...eff yes. (mild sun stroke did occur that evening...oops). I made my way back to istanbul for a free day of shopping and a tour on the Bosphorus. It was a great trip, but again, I wish I had had someone there to share it with. OH WELL!

The next week was the week of goodbyes and depression for your dear friend Erin. I have never cried so much in my life. I won't get into details, but lets just say that when two full grown spanish men start to cry BEFORE I did while saying goodbye did not help me hold strong. good lord, i was practically dehydrated from all the tears.

Now I am with fam in Ljubljana. Matic has mostly been helping me with language, but he didn't come to Prek with Stefka, Joze, and I. Poo. It was fun though, just kinda sitting and listening. Ps I forgot my camera in ljubljana, so i don't really have pictures...oops. Tina is 5 months preggers, so that was exciting news! She seems to be doing really well...well enough to play basketball with us haha. Bojan insisted on using a GIANT bouncey ball with antennae instead of a normal ball...that was interesting. The vision of Stefka trying hurl the giant ball into the net will never leave my memory haha. It was pretty chill for the most part, although Minka and Stefan are driving them all insane, apparently. Metka told me a bit about what was going on...let's just say she doesn't even use his name anymore, she just refers to Stefan as "the crazy old man". Tomorrow I'm hoping to go to center and run a few errands, and then pack like mad (and weigh my giant bags) so that everything is ready to go for the airport on Tuesday. See you all soon!!!


Lanterns in the Grand Bazaar, Istanbul


Pamukkale


Pamukkale


Ephasus


Blue Mosque, Istanbul

Title Track: Etta James