Day in Bed for Cool People, Quick Day Trip for Losers

Mike still didn’t feel so good after the previous night’s dinner, so he spent  yesterday lounging in bed, attempting to nap, and trying to research our upcoming jaunts to Greece and Italy. (Have we mentioned we are sick of researching stuff? We are. We definitely know that we’d rather be gallivanting around the world than stuck at a desk, but researching destinations, flights, trains, and hostels becomes a never-ending inducer of headaches.)

Hanna and Bonnie took a ten-minute minibus to Sirince, a nearby town famous for wine and olives. Somehow they partook in neither. After a pleasant stroll to check out the local goods, they had a tasty lunch of (guess what?) kebabs:

You Can Tell It’s Bonnie Eating Because She’s Wearing Non-Backpacker Clothes.

Post-Lunch Squinty Pic.

They shopped a little bit more, attempted to avoid paying for toilets (Hanna was successful), and returned down the mountain road as carsick as ever.

The Road Out of Town.

Mike feels fine now. Don’t worry, parents.

Ephesian Ruins

The theme of our Turkish travels with Bonnie is taking it slow. Hell, we are fine with that. Yesterday we woke up around 9:30am…just in time for the tail-end of another rooftop breakfast:

We Now Expect Awesome Views at Breakfast.

Hanna contends that the breakfast in Istanbul was better because they had fake Nutella and better bread. (A tangent: after devouring all of the fake Nutella we stole, we are now almost done with a jar of real Nutella. We have a small spoon which we pass amongst the three of us sporadically throughout the day. Don’t judge.)

This Post Is Sponsored by Nutella.

The main reason we Bonnie decided to come to Selcuk was to see the ruins nearby. Boring history time: Ephesus was the second largest city in the Roman Empire, thus many a Roman ruin has been found. For all you fans of the Bible, the apostle Paul wrote an epistle to the Ephesians which is now a book of the New Testament, and the Virgin Mary allegedly lived here before she died. (After our brief hiatus from education in Australia, Kuala Lumpur, and London, we are now learning once again.)

We’ll let the pictures tell the story here:

The Great Theater. It Seats About 24,000 And Is Still Used for Productions Each May.

The Theater Was Pretty Empty, Yet a Group of Germans Chose to Sit Right on Hanna. Note Her Peeking Out.

The View from Stage.

Library of Celsus with Restored Facade. It Was Built for a Roman Governor of Asia Who Is Buried Underneath.

Ruins. Once You See Some, You Kinda Have Seen Them All...

Genuine Fake Watches? Sold.

Unfortunately our day’s activity ended on a sour note. As we made the two-mile walk back to the town of Selcuk, Hanna spotted a dead snake on the wide dirt path. She hightailed it out of there as quick as possible. No more exploration for her. Of course we saw no snakes in deadly Australia, yet we see one a few days after landing in Turkey.

We relaxed in the hotel for a bit before going out to dinner at a small kebab place with good reviews. Hanna and Bonnie got chicken skewers, and Mike got Turkish meatballs. Each meal was accompanied by delicious rice, fries, salad, and bread that tasted like tortillas. While the food was good, the portions weren’t huge. Guess we’re just fat Americans as we got a side order of greasy fries as well. As Mike tried to drift off to sleep around 11pm because his stomach wasn’t feeling so hot from the food, the ladies fist-pumped their way through an episode of Jersey Shore online. Keepin’ it classy here in Selcuk…

Will the Day Ever End?

It’s good that we actually talk to people at hostels. Otherwise we totally would have missed the boat…literally.

A kind Kiwi couple in their fifties who was staying at our hostel told us that the clocks would fast forward an hour that night because of Daylight Saving Time. We don’t pay attention to this kind of stuff on our year of lazing about, so we are very thankful we found out. (Ah, so Kiwis can be friendly and helpful. Zing.)

With the watch set ahead before we went to bed the previous night, Mike’s alarm went off yesterday at the ungodly hour of 5:15am. We finished packing, bought two loaves of delicious bread, and took the commuter train two stops. Walking to the ferry terminal in the cold, we were accosted by many taxis who wanted to give us a ride. Uh, isn’t it obvious we just got off the train and are making the five-minute walk to the ferry?

Bonnie and Hanna (both of whom aren’t lovers of water transportation) were a bit nervous about the ferry ride, but they Dramamined up. We all slept on the two-hour ride from Istanbul to Bandirma because the water was smooth as glass. No puking occurred.

Train at Bandirma.

The ferry ride led to a six-hour train ride. We all drifted in and out of sleep, but we finally got to Izmir. Not our final destination… Upon arrival at the train station, we weren’t exactly sure how we were going to get to Selcuk, the town nearest to the ruins of Ephesus. (Keep in mind that we know nothing about Turkey. Bonnie did all the planning.) We wandered around aimlessly for a while and attempted to get help from locals and the train station’s information counter without much luck. Some old Turkish woman then shoved us onto a minibus. We hoped it was going to Selcuk, but instead we were dumped off at a bus station about twenty minutes out of town. After wandering the bus station for ten minutes, we found the proper minibus that would take us to Selcuk. Forty minutes later our pilgrimage was finally over.

After almost twelve hours of travel, we settled into our nice hotel. Yes, a proper hotel. Not a hostel. (Bonnie was able to find a triple room for less than the price of a hostel. Hats off.) Turkish pizza, meatballs, and kebabs were on the menu for our dinner next door. Some YouTube videos were watched, and then we all passed out. Thank God flights were cheap back to Istanbul later this week.

Istanbul Hodgepodge

We woke up late on our last full day in Istanbul but still enjoyed breakfast on the roof. Nothing like free rolls, fake Nutella, feta, olives, coffee, and tea to accompany the amazing views of the Bosphorus Strait.

After walking around for a bit, we stumbled across an exercise park where we played for a while:

Hanna and Bonnie Now Sell Exercise Equipment on QVC.

Check out this video of the two of us pretending we are gazelles:

Once we were done workin’ up a sweat, we had the pleasure of witnessing Bonnie’s amazing bargaining skills. She really wanted a pillowcase, but every vendor wanted at least 55 Turkish lira (about US $35). She refused to pay that much but offered a 10 euro note that she randomly found in her purse from a previous trip to Spain. The vendors like to receive payment in euros when possible, but it still wasn’t enough for them. After more rummaging through her purse, she offered the 10 euros plus a whopping US $3. We kept laughing because we knew the guy wouldn’t take it. The result?

Bargaining Success. Neither Currency She Paid in Was Turkish.

Bonnie went to see Hagia Sophia, but we were content sitting outside to bask in the sunshine:

This Grand Building Has Been an Orthodox Cathedral, a Mosque, And Is Now a Museum.

In the hour that she was inside, the following occurred:

• We were offered employment in the tourism industry. A well-dressed couple approached us, asked where we were from, and wanted to know if we wanted a j0b because of our English language skills. If only we were not leaving the next day, we definitely would have accepted a job in “tourism” from some random dude on the street…
• We were approached by a twentysomething Turkish girl who wanted us to go on a tour of Istanbul with her uncle. All we had to do was jump in his car. Uh, no thanks…
• We had a great conversation with a Turkish father and his fifteen-year-old daughter. It was obvious he wanted her to practice English with us, and her skills were impeccable. Thanks to all of the TV that she watches (Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, and the late, craptastic Two and a Half Men), she could have easily passed as an American teen. The look of pride on her father’s face when we complimented the daughter’s proficiency will stick with us. He smiled from ear to ear and kissed her on the cheek. We told him to keep letting her watch American TV.
• Throughout our days in Istanbul, we would hear the Muslim call to prayer at mosques. We were able to capture it on video at the Blue Mosque for your listening pleasure:

Rain started dropping down, so we ducked into a restaurant for a relatively cheap prix fixe dinner of kebabs, pita, and beer, all of which were a lot more delicious than we expected of the place.

The plan was to go to bed at like 10pm because we had an early morning ferry the next day. That didn’t happen. Bonnie kept talking…and talking…and talking. We sometimes have to remind her to use her inside voice.

Hanna: Ladies’ Turkish Bath Night

After visiting a very interesting Korean bath in New York with Bonnie, we knew that we had to hit up a Turkish bath while in Istanbul. Mike had considered coming, but in the end, he realized he doesn’t enjoy saunas by himself all that much. Everything that we had read said that it’s enjoyable for women but not all that fun for men. He stayed back at the hostel’s rooftop bar, smoked the free shisha, and chatted with backpackers from all over.

Us ladies headed over to the bath around 8pm for a few hours of relaxation. After paying we were ushered into a locker room and handed some underwear and a loincloth…and yes, the underwear was new. We stripped down and were directed in Turkish to go into the main room. The building was beautiful and hundreds of years old.

The bath consisted of one large domed room with small off-shoots. The main room had a large heated marble slab to lay on, while the smaller side rooms had basins that were meant for washing yourself. We spent a while soaping up and dumping lukewarm water over our heads. The most enjoyable part of the ordeal was watching the larger Turkish women who worked there scrub down the patrons…like literally scrub these naked women down with exfoliating gloves. Quite amusing. We skipped out on this service.

After relaxing on the marble slab for some time, we headed to the hot tub for a quick dip, and then we were done. Definitely had seen our share of big boobs for the day. We had a great time and enjoyed experiencing a new bathing experience.

Sorry, no pictures were taken on this outing.

Shoppin’ and Prayin’

We like hanging out with Bonnie in Istanbul for two reasons: 1) She is okay with walking a lot…and b) She is okay with sitting and resting a lot. Yesterday our main mission was to head to the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar. First, however, we saw the most evil cat in the world. It was quite hard to capture a picture of evil incarnate’s face, so this will have to do:

This Creeper Had Cataracts, a Paw Growing from His Chin, and a Few Dreadlocks.

Istanbul is indeed full of mangy cats. Bonnie the Cat Lover is obsessed with petting them; we keep our distance.

After this terrifying sight, we headed to the Grand Bazaar. As we have said many times before, we aren’t the biggest fans of markets. It’s all the same crap. The Grand Bazaar, however, was a different story. This is the largest marketplace we have ever been to (over 4,000 stalls), and we felt like it had a variety of different wares: lamps, pillowcases, rugs, jewelry, gold, clothes, and tea. We definitely did not see the whole thing. While the aisles were wide, they were chock full of bargain shoppers:

Note the Crowds in the Background.

Hanna Really Likes These Lamps. We May Actually Come Back with a Souvenir.

We wandered around until we couldn’t handle the crowds any longer. A quick lunch of kebabs soon followed. While on the subject, we have eaten kebabs for almost every meal here. (Well, kebabs and fake Nutella on bread which we have stolen from our hostel’s breakfast. We’re not above this, you see.)

Hanna Actually Does Eat Local Food.

The next destination was the Blue Mosque which is as impressive as it looks:

Mike Wants to Sell This as a Postcard.

Mike was able to walk right in, yet the two ladies had to wear headscarves. Bonnie had a scarf with her, but Hanna had to use one of the free ones:

Hanna Looks Like a Swedish Milkmaid. Bonnie Looks More Appropriate.

The interior is absolutely massive and ornately decorated:

Walls and Dome.

Main Area for Prayer.

Post-Visit.

Now that we are actually taking plenty of pictures again, you’re not getting all that much text. Sorry.

Once Constantinople

After a 3:30am wake-up call, a bus, a train, a 3.5-hour flight, a subway ride, and a tram ride, we made it to our hostel in Istanbul. We arrived at the hostel yesterday around 4pm and were cold and exhausted. Since we woke up so early, we had a strict bedtime of 9:30pm. It was really fun being woken up in the middle of the night by three snorers and drunk Germans who turned on the lights and talked loudly. Can you tell it’s a bit hard going back to hostels after staying with friends and family for a while?

Istanbul is really cold. Colder than London. How cold, you ask? About 50 degrees. Not that cold for the average person…but absolutely freezing to us. We don’t really have cold weather clothes, and the stuff that we do have isn’t that warm or stylish. (As Mike got used to wearing his brother’s jeans while in London, he ended up buying a cheap pair of jeans there. He may be living in them for the rest of the trip. Really weird to wear real clothes again.) We may be buying more warm clothes as Turkey and Greece probably won’t be that hot.

Our friend Bonnie arrived this morning. We are excited to hang out with a friend from New York and have a chance to catch up on everything that we are missing. Even better? She brought us lots of candy containing peanut butter from home. Nowhere else in the world loves peanut butter as much as us Americans. Anyone else meeting us: take note.

To keep Bonnie awake after her overnight flight, we did a quick walk around some free (free being the important word) mausoleums of the Hagia Sophia:

Beautifully Decorated Room Containing Dead People.

Domed Roof and Stained Glass.

We then headed back to our hostel so that jet-lagged Bonnie could rest a bit and we could catch up on some emails and blog posts.

View from Our Hostel Roof Terrace. We Will Be Enjoying Breakfast Here Each Morning.

Leaving London

We spent our last day in London going out to lunch with Mike’s old coworker Jason. (Whoops, we totally forgot to take a picture.) We do hold him to his promise that he will get us permanent jobs in London though. We also ate more sugar, walked around, sat at the British Museum for a while but didn’t look at any of the exhibits, and had one last dinner with Pat and Amy:

Amy & Pat Posing in a Pub.

It’s weird leaving London after four full days as we feel like we have only just arrived. Thankfully we will be returning for an extended period at the end of our trip.

Today we fly to Istanbul. Our European travels officially begin here. We don’t count London because we are so familiar with the city and really didn’t do anything touristy. We are meeting our friend Bonnie in Istanbul and will spend the next ten days traveling Turkey with her. Because we are getting quite tired of researching and planning, we told Bonnie that she could only come meet us if she planned the trip. We will see how astute her travel planning really is.