Happy xmas - my fun wıth the aid of couchsurfing, McDonalds and Eric!
People i met here who contributed to, and improved my trip: Derya and Tuva (Turkey), Eric and Dave (USA)
I was still feeling a bit shaky when i made my way off the bus in Istanbul at 21.30, which was around three and a half hours later than scheduled. I think the accident had been the worst that i had been involved in and my mind was awash with 'what could have been'. I had to wait for a further half an hour in a taxi office for my free 'servis' to the centre, when all i wanted to do was put my feet up and bring an end to the trip. In other countries i would have expected a sorry, or a cup of tea or something, but i received nothing, which i thought was pretty appalling.
Having taken the servis into the centre, i then caught a taxi to take me the rest of the way to my couchsurfers house, which was located near the beautiful district of Ortakoy.
Thursday was Christmas day, but it was probably the least like Christmas that it has ever felt for me. Normally countries make some sort of effort for the day, even if it is just to please the tourists, but Istanbul seemed to do nothing at all, which was a bit disappointing. Having woken up at 09.30, i had a slow start to the day, and walked down to Ortakoy around 11.00. Although it was chilly, the sun was out and the sky was a beautiful blue, with patchy white clouds, making the area seem all the more appealing.
Ortakoy has a few star attractions, with the main ones been the Bosphorus Bridge and the Ortakoy Mosque, although its attractive streets also appealed to me.
As it was a pleasant day, i decided to make a detour to Yildiz Park and passed a nice mosque at the entrance. I spent the next half an hour walking around the hilly terrain and passing two pavilions, some squirrels in the trees, a small pond that had ducks swimming around and some angry dogs that came charging at me barking.
From the park i walked past Ciragan Sarayi and also a wall that was adorned with photos of Ataturk for about half a kilometre. By the time i reached Besiktas i was famished and there was no sign of anywhere serving Christmas lunch, so i decided to 'treat' myself to a McDonalds. I ordered a jumbo Big Mac menu, which left me feeling a bit sick, but then again it tasted good at the time. Thats actually a common thing for me to feel terrible after eating McDonalds, but for some unexplainable reason, i still frequent the place from time to time.
Heading North from Besiktas, i passed through some very pretty areas and was already falling in love with the City. I'm not always a fan of metropolises, as i usually find that only small portions are nice and it takes too long to get from a to b, but in Istanbul i enjoyed walking everywhere (at least when it wasn't raining on me!) and always felt comfortable in my environs.
My main stop for the afternoon was the excellent military museum, located a kilometre or so from Taksim. This was the only place that i found in Turkey that offered a student discount and as a result it only cost 1YTL to enter. Sadly they had a hefty camera charge, so i opted to store it at reception and just walk around.
The museum closed at 16.30, so i walked down to Taksim Square, which is arguably the heart of Istanbul. I had been told so many times that you just have to visit this place, but in absolute honesty, i have no clue why! There were a few sparkly decorations and not much else to see in my opinion and whilst i wouldn't discourage anyone from going, i also wouldn't say it was a must for any visit to the City.
As there were plenty of phone booths scattered around the square, i decided to take the opportunity to phone my family and also Julia and wish everyone a Happy Christmas. It was kind of weird that it was 17.00 before i heard the words 'Happy Christmas', or indeed spoke them myself. It was good to talk to everyone, as i hadn't called home for probably 3 or 4 months and i hadn't spoken to Julia over the last month either - i don't really like talking on the phone, i much prefer email.
I had arranged to meet Derya at Starbucks around 18.00, so i sat outside and made use of the free wireless that is available all down Istiklal Caddesi, which is the main shopping street in the area. At 18.30 i was a little worried that there was no sign of Derya, so went back to Taksim Square to call her, only to discover that she had been sat upstairs all the while, even though we had arranged to meet at the entrance - naughty girl :)
I hadn't yet looked around the area we were in, so Derya took the opportunity to show me around, and proved to be an excellent tour guide.
The guys arrived a little after 20.00 and it was great to meet Eric again, and it was the first time that i had met Dave. Eric and I got acquainted in Lithuania at the start of my trip, which was about two and a half years ago and its his fault that i have my Travbuddy addiction.
Now we were four, and there was just one person left to meet, which was Derya's friend called Tuva.
After we had collected her from outside the Galatasaray school, we went to a small family run restaurant, where you pretty much went into the kitchen to choose and order your food! It was a nice meal, although Eric was having real problems drinking Ayran, which is the local yoghurt based drink, which is incredibly popular amongst the Turkish.
So with food out of the way, the next stop was the pub. The first establishment that we frequented served home brewed beer, and after stopping for one pint, we made a move to a place that rustled up its own Hazlenut Vodka. I wasn't really in the mood for shots, but after knocking back my first, i realised how good it was, so we immediately ordered a second. Having drunk a couple of 700ml beers, Dave began to get a little sleepy, it had been a really long day for the guys, but a red bull soon sorted him out.
Around 02.00 we called it a night and the girls and Dave went and ate some mussels from a street stall, whilst Eric and I looked on in bewilderment. Who the hell eats mussels after beer - especially when we were in the land of kebabs!? We said goodnight to the guys and the girls and I caught a taxi home together and stayed up until 04.00 talking, which probably wasn't the best idea as i had to get up in the morning.
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