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October 17, 2011
in Cappadocia, Europe, Life List, Round the World, travel, Turkey

On Thursday morning I woke up dark and early at 5am to get picked up for my hot air balloon ride. Really, it's the thing to do in Cappadocia. I waited with two others from my hostel until the bus driver came to whisk us to the company's headquarters for breakfast. It was dark and cold and the Nescafe and bread weren't quite doing it for me. Why can't they just skip the whole breakfast thing and let you sleep in a little longer?...

October 15, 2011
in Cappadocia, Europe, Round the World, travel, Turkey

1. The bus ride from Istanbul to Cappadocia, Turkey, (more specifically, Göreme) took approximately 14 hours. But, surprisingly, I slept pretty decently the whole way. The bus had wifi which made me happy. Actually, way more happy than it should have.   2. I am sick. Yes, again. This time I am pretty sure it is food poisoning that may or may not have come from a bad plate of nachos. (Maybe I shouldn't eat Mexican food in Turkey?) I am throwing up everything I eat. And I can't even look at a photo of food without gagging. Which is hard,...

October 14, 2011
in Europe, Istanbul, Round the World, travel, Turkey

While I spent my nights having fun around Istanbul, I spent my mornings touring some of the bigger attractions. Like the Spice Market where I could have bought anything from nuts to candy to scarves to natural viagra. And the Galata Bridge, where men spent their day and night fishing. And Hagia Sofia, a basilica turned mosque turned museum. And the ancient Basilica Cistern, Istanbul's largest. Even after a week in Istanbul I don't feel like I got to see everything I hoped to see. What I ended up loving most was that it seemed to have the perfect mix of old world and...

October 10, 2011
in Europe, Istanbul, Round the World, travel, Turkey

On my second full day in Istanbul I spent the morning wandering the Grand Bazaar, where I dodged carpet sellers and lamp sellers and scarf sellers and trinket sellers all spouting out "Where you from?" "You speak English?" "You want to be my friend?" and some other favorites like "good morning…(after I ignored them)…bad morning" and "you German?" and "hola" and "bonjour" and "want to see my carpets?" which just sounds like a dirty pick up line. And then there was the person who tried to convince me he was trustworthy by showing me text messages from Brits and Americans...

October 8, 2011
in Cats, Europe, food, Istanbul, Round the World, travel, Turkey

I'm eating a lot of doner kebabs in Istanbul. It's a good meal, cheap, and can be eaten on the street, which is a plus for a solo female traveler like me. But you can't eat your doner on a park bench in Istanbul. It's just not possible. Because if you try to eat your doner on a park bench in Istanbul they will find you. And they will beg. And they will look damn adorable while doing so. They, of course, are the cats in Istanbul. They will surround you. They will beg. They will look so darned cute. And you...

October 7, 2011
in Europe, Istanbul, Round the World, travel, Turkey

After arriving at my Istanbul hostel around midnight, a time when the rooftop bar was closed and the two other occupied beds in my room had sound sleepers, I had really nothing better to do than go to bed myself. I wasn't really tired though, and was an hour behind in time zones so I just laid there for a long time listening to the entire soundtrack to RENT on my iPod. It was my first night in a hostel in five weeks, so I had become unaccustomed to snorers and top bunks. So I didn't sleep well....

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2006 –
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