New Thing #86 - Balkans Trip - Days 16/17 (Journey Home)

June 28, 2015

We left our hostel fairly early on the shuttle even though we had an afternoon flight. The later shuttle concerned us, since we didn't know what Turkish customs/security would be like. And after our traumatizing train escapade in Vienna, we decided to err on the side of caution and get to the airport early.

If Zaman didn't spend a majority of his time here, I'd think this was his way of trying to get us to stay.

Luckily there wasn't much traffic, and we made it in great time. The airport required us to X-ray all of our bags, show our passports more than once, get our boarding passes, and then finally check our bags. A quick jaunt through passport control and security, and we figured quite a bit of time had passed. Turns out, it went relatively quickly, and we were THREE. HOURS. EARLY.

Luckily there was a cafe to use WiFi and just chill. Not to be confused with Netflix and Chill. We took turns reading, people watching and dozing off until it was time to find our terminal. Our flight out was much less of a hassle than any of the other times we had been here, and I'm SO glad it was a direct flight this time around. No layover, stops or other headaches. We even got the front seats by the bulkhead again, though I learned from previous mistakes and kept my feet up for a good portion of it.

The main issues were with the guy to my left that didn't understand the concept of personal space (I had to lean somewhat into Nikki's territory to keep from touching him). Nikki's TV wouldn't stay up on its own, so she had to hold it in place any time she wanted to watch a movie. I offered to switch with her when I wanted to nap, but she obviously didn't want that guy all up in her business either.

No photos of food or movies this time. I was exhausted. I love these trips that we do, because we pack so much in to such a short amount of time, but damn, I'm just completely spent at the end of them. We arrived safely in Chicago without incident, and passport control was quick and smooth (as opposed to other times that take forever).

I guess the travel gods weren't going to let us off that easy though, because we waited for 45 minutes or so before our luggage came. And, everyone else had the same travel crabbiness in them, so no one was really friendly waiting by the conveyor belt. My carry-on was ridiculously heavy with a billion souvenirs in it, and I just wanted to sleep.

Our luggage did come, but we didn't feel like another hour long trek via the "L" and bus service. We opted for a cab this time around, though he did have to drop us off a few blocks from Nikki's apartment, due to the remnants of the Pride parade winding down. A quickish stop at Chipotle to grab some dinner (I was starving, and there were drunk parade goers everywhere), and we headed back to Nikki's apartment. Fortunately for her,  her journey was over. I still had to get home to StL.

Due to how close our flight in was compared to when the last train left Chicago, I hadn't wanted to risk booking the late train that night. I just didn't think I'd make it, and turns out, I wouldn't have. Especially since some of my stuff (including my house keys) were still at Nikki's.

We spent a restless night trying to sleep, though neither of us really could. Nikki was up super early to go for a run to help ease the restlessness, and I showered before my final leg. Amtrak to the rescue again. I'm not sure how Nikki managed to go to work that day, but she dropped me off at Union Station on her way in, and I found my platform for my final leg home.

Unfortunately, that leg was just as bad as the one in to Chicago two weeks earlier. Numerous stops in the middle of nowhere, backing up, and no communication from the conductors. The worst was when we could SEE the Arch, and we sat still for over an hour. Turns out the rains had flooded some of the tracks, so we had to share with other trains, but that wasn't explained to us while we waited.

I was starving at this point, expecting to be home two hours prior. Luckily, I had a few dollars in cash because the food cart didn't take cards. And something told me they wouldn't take any remaining Turkish Lira either.

We finally arrived in StL, over 2.5 hours later than scheduled, thus forcing me to get a cab to my house (my friend had planned on getting me, but with the delay in our train, she couldn't miss an important work meeting). My stupid cab ride cost as much as my entire train ticket did. So, just a word of caution. If you take Amtrak, be sure you have plenty of time to get to your destination, and don't plan on any set pick up plans that can't be changed.

In hindsight, this train delay wasn't really that big of a deal, but in the moment when I just wanted to be home already, it was a struggle not to lose my sh*t.

But, on the brightside, I just spent 14 days in 5 countries and 9 cities with some of my favorite people in the world. I'd say a little train snafu pales in comparison, no?

Until next time!

New Thing #86 - Balkans Trip - Day 15 (Istanbul, Turkey)

June 27, 2015

Megan left bright and early this morning to head out on the next leg of her European vacation sans Nikki and I. We, on the other hand, chose to have a leisurely breakfast and interact with the super friendly staff at our hostel. (If you go to Istanbul, you HAVE to stay at Cheers Hostel. For real, you guys. Everyone there is so nice. The breakfast is fantastic, and the overall vibe is wonderful. I promise you they didn't ask me to say these things. :)

After trying her hand at Bosnian coffee, Nikki wanted to see how Turkish coffee differed, so we headed to a place our hostel recommended. Turns out we didn't pay close enough attention to either the name or the directions because we didn't find it. We stopped instead at another little shop where Nikki got what looked like motor oil in a little cup, and I opted for some apple tea to start the day. It cooled off by around 5pm. :/

This shop by our restaurant had the most beautifully intricate plates and bowls, etc. If I could have carried one of these on the plane the whole way home, I probably would have bought one.

We decided to go back to the Bazaar to kill a little bit of time and determine if we had in fact gotten everything we wanted/needed the day before. We came in yet another entrance than we had the two previous days and immediately got lost. I'm pretty handy with a map, but seeing as how we never officially got one, nor had any kind of layout on where the shops were located, we just kind of winged it. Yes, we ended up walking down the same aisles about a billion times, but I guess that's just all part of the fun.

New sites to see on this trip to the GB.

I finalized my trip with a little tea set for two, a trivet and a coaster for myself. Yesterday was spent getting gifts for friends, so now it was time to spoil Heather for a bit. While the cafe this morning had been quiet and peaceful (for a Saturday morning), all the crazies must have been at the Bazaar. It seemed like the vendors were even more aggressive than before. Perhaps because there were only two of us to harass. Or, maybe they assumed there would be more tourists on a Saturday. I have no idea, but it was incredibly annoying.

After we had had our fill of trinkets and annoying Turkish men, we tried to find the Doner shop that Dalim had pointed out two days ago. He had mentioned that they had the best doners and and told us to stop when we had a chance. A doner is basically a meat filled sandwich, and since Megan is vegetarian, it didn't make sense to stop yesterday. After easily a 45 minutes trek in and out of the Bazaar trying to find the exact entrance where it was, we came upon it by sheer dumb luck.

And damn, am I happy for that dumb luck. I can't even begin to describe to you the deliciousness of this sandwich. It wasn't much. Just some shaved meat, tomatoes and onions in a pita. That's it. But, sweet sassy molassey was it tasty! I managed not to get all of the juices on me as we walked back to the hostel, but it was close.

Found it!!!!

Mmmmm...shaved meat!

I should have gotten two.

After dropping off our goodies yet again, we figured we should take a cruise down the Bosphorous. After all, all the guide books recommended it. They had some that took the better part of an afternoon, and some that took all day (with numerous stops on and off), but we really weren't interested in spending that much time on a boat. Instead we found one that would take about two hours or so and hopped on a bit early. We managed to find seats on the top of the boat at the very front for some of the best views.

We're adorable.

We had a couple of guys sitting next to us who were Australian and Greek, and I loved just listening to them talk. Not to mention the Australian was a bit of a silver fox. Heyooooo! Eventually we set sail, so to speak, and headed north along the European coast line. We didn't go nearly as fast as I thought we would, and there wasn't a tour guide to explain to us what we were seeing. (That kind of bummed me out a bit.) And heading the direction we were, it was super chilly and windy....and actually quite boring. There was only so many buildings I could take pictures of. (Not sure what we were expecting though.)

We eventually had to head back south along the Asian coastline, and that direction provided us with a warmer and sunnier return trip. (Thank God). There still wasn't much to see, but it was a nice relaxing trip with nowhere to be. After we departed the boat and said goodbye to our sexy Aussie friend, we stopped to try some chocolate baklava (which is legit, ya'll), and then found a shop near our hostel that sold Turkish delight.

Prepare yourself for a billions water/coast/building photos.

Our boat.

Now, we had tried some Turkish delight in the airport when we first arrived in Istanbul while waiting for our connecting flight to Vienna. It was terrible. I wasn't too keen on purchasing any as a gift for someone if it was that bad. The salesman roped us in though, and told us that pre-packaged T.Delight is the worst idea possible. They make it fresh there, and he insisted we try some.

I'm damn glad we did, because again, it was fantastic. Like night and day from the other stuff. He told us that he could build us a giftbox of various flavors and then vacuum seal it for our trip back home. Sold! I got pomegranate, honey, lemon, orange, coconut and a bunch of other things, including some baklava (and chocolate)! It was a pretty stellar purchase, though people in my office the next week didn't seem to think it was as good as I did. :/ Jerks.

More street corn. No, I didn't get any. For numerous reasons.

Chocolate baklava! Effing delicious.

My assortment of T.Delight and baklavas. 

So many to choose from!

We managed to make it to our hostel in time for their BBQ. They had prepared minced meat and chicken kebabs with bulgar wheat, bread, salad and veggies for their patrons to enjoy in the upstairs lounge/bar. A few additional beers, some darts and checkers to round out our night, as well as a random conversation with a guy from California who had just graduated college. He asked us about our backpacking trip, again thinking we were in our early 20s, and we didn't have the heart to correct him. If he thinks I'm 22, then I'm damn sure not going to correct him. They invited us out for a pub crawl, but my almost-36-year-old, end-of-a-whirlwind-trip self just couldn't hack it. Nikki and I opted to pack and turn in before our grueling journey back home the next day.

We're party animals, what can I say?

Dinner was awesome!

Had to get some more belly scratches before we left.

Our hostel terrace was hopping!

New Thing #86 - Balkans Trip - Day 14 (Istanbul, Turkey)

June 26, 2015

We had a lazier morning today as we didn't have anything to do but sightsee. Plus, we're nearing the end of our trip, and vacation fatigue is starting to set in. After another stellar breakfast at our hostel, we headed the short distance to the Basilica Cistern and O.M.G. I'm not sure I can describe this place to you, and my photos don't even remotely do it justice. First off, the building to enter is very unassuming, and we walked past it without realizing it. We even stopped to get directions from a security guard, and he pointed across the street. Yeah, we're special.

First off, let me preface by explaining what the BC actually is. It's the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns lying beneath Istanbul. It was built in the 6th century. The SIXTH CENTURY, ya'll. A Basilica originally stood where the cistern was eventually built, hence the name, and the basilica was built between the 3rd and 4th centuries. The cistern itself provided a water filtration system for the Great Palace of Constantinople and surrounding buildings. It has the capacity to hold 100,000 tons of water, though it's nearly empty today with only a few feet of water remaining in the bottom. (Thanks Wikipedia for the info.)

Very unassuming entrance.

The origin of these Medusa heads is unknown, but some theories are they came from a building in the late Roman period.

It's thought that the heads were rotated to negate the Gorgon's gaze, but others just think it was because they fit the columns better this way.

So glad we went to this first thing in the morning because it wasn't super crowded, and there was no line to get in. Later in the day the line was out the door and down the street!

Here's the line later in the afternoon. I didn't even show the line down the sidewalk.

Next, we headed to the Spice Market to check out all of the food stuffs. We found that vendors were much more aggressive here than at the Bazaar the day before. Perhaps it's because we were all females and Dalim wasn't with us, but I found it really distasteful to walk through because of the things the guys were saying. One guy even called out to us: "Tea for the ladies? Tea to lose weight?" The only pseudo cat-call that I enjoyed was the guy outside who said "Can I help you spend your money on things you don't need?"

Touche.

Dalim had suggested we head down a side aisle, and we found out he was right. It was less crowded, and had fewer aggressive vendors. We found a really nice guy in a spice stall that probably spent about an hour with us letting us sample different spices and teas. We all ended up getting numerous bags of spices for chicken, potatoes, salads, fish and red meat. He even measured out the fresh spices for us and vacuum sealed them while we waited. That's pretty much the only way we could get them on the plane. Nikki ended up buying so many bags of spices to use for gifts that her travel nickname changed from Sweet Nikki G to Spicy Nikki G!

We thought we were ready to go until he pulled out all of the tea choices: apple, Istanbul, lemon mint and pomegranate. I couldn't resist even though I drink zero tea on a regular basis. But, dammit, they all spelled so good!

All the spices.

We finally extricated ourselves from the spice market and left to head back to the Grand Bazaar. We hadn't purchased anything the previous day during our short tour, so we were determined to come away with some sweet souvenirs. Although I wasn't super pumped about haggling, I managed to get a few good deals on some trivets and a little tea set to go with my new bags of tea. I kept thinking I needed more, and wanted everything I saw. Luckily common sense won out and I resisted. Not to mention, I was pretty much at capacity with my backpack and suitcase.

I want ALL of these lamps!

We did spend a lot of time in one little jewelry shop, specifically for Megan to pick out some earrings for herself and gifts. I ended up getting some as a gift for friends, and I knew I was locked in when the vendor offered us apple tea, and we said yes. Granted, I did want some tea, and I was planning on buying something anyways, but that was a solid statement saying we weren't leaving without getting something. I try to follow the customs of whatever country I'm in, and I wasn't about to insult this guy by drinking his tea, and then just walking out.

Speaking of tea, I have yet to figure out where it comes from here. He basically pushed a button, and in less than 10 minutes (probably closer to 5), two glasses of steaming hot apple tea were delivered to his stall. My guess is there is some mysterious room deep in the bowels of the bazaar where guys do nothing buy brew tea and run it back and forth to stalls.

This intrigues me.

After another delicious meal at an aptly named Kepab House, we talked about taking a cruise down the Bosphorous Strait, the small canal of water that separates the European side of Istanbul with the Asian side. On our way back to our hostel to drop off our goodies, we passed a Turkish Bath, and decided we couldn't leave Turkey without participating in this ancient ritual.

Lunch! The service was mediocre, but the food was awesome.

Still boggles my mind that their water comes in little plastic cubes.

Hummus!

Chicken shish kebob

I wonder what a Turkish Burger King tastes like. I guess I'll never know, because we did not go in.

Loved this tile mosaic wall on our way back from lunch.

Turkish Bath time!

My bag of bath goodies: panties, a towel and a body scrubber mitt, along with a little yellow chip.

I'm going to do my best to explain the Turkish Bath, because for obvious reasons I couldn't take any photos. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

First off, you could choose between a few different options: just a steam, a steam with a scrub and bubble wash, or a steam with a scrub/bubble wash finished off with a massage. Nikki and I chose the steam with scrub/bubble wash, and Megan opted for the additional massage. (I'm pretty loyal to my massage therapist in StL, and I already knew I'd be seeing her after my trip, so I didn't want to pay the extra fee. Not to mention that those Turkish ladies looked like they might break me in half....)

Once we paid, we each got a small baggie plus little colored chips with our services listed. This helped to indicate to the women inside what services we had paid for. They led us to another room and up some stairs with changing rooms and little lockers. Inside our baggies were panties (one size fits all), a textured scrubber mitt and a plaid towel. We each changed into the panties and wrapped the towels around us and took the mitt with us. Our clothes and belongings went into a locker and we took the key with us.

Now for the fun part. We headed into the Hamam - a large room covered floor to ceiling in marble filled with enough steam to dewrinkle your clothes in about 38 seconds flat. In the middle of the room was a larger-than-octagonal shaped dais. (I say larger than octagonal because I didn't really get a chance to count how many sides it had. I just remember that it was huge.) Lying on the slab were about 15-20 women getting their steam/scrub/wash, while almost as many Turkish women stood on the edges in nothing but a black bikini - their hair plastered to their head from all the humidity.

The lady who led us into the room motioned for us to lie down on the slab and wait for one of the ladies to grab us. It didn't take long for one lady to motion to me, and had me lie face down on my towel along one of the edges. Unfortunately, I was lying along the edge, and she had me put my head almost on top of the feet of the girl next to me. Um, no thanks. I tried to turn slightly so I didn't get smacked in the head with her toes, and then the lady who settled me in just left. I stayed on my stomach waiting somewhat patiently while I saw both Megan and Nikki get grabbed by other ladies.

I wasn't sure if the lady had seen my chips that I was to get the scrub/wash and not just the steam, so I looked around trying to find her, but I couldn't really find her in the room. I tried asking the lady next to me who was busy scrubbing/washing another girl, but in her broken English she basically just smiled and told me to wait.

So I waited until both Nikki and Megan were nearly done, and the lady I had briefly spoken to finished with the other girl. I was starting to worry though that I had paid for nothing. She finally had me lay on my stomach (and I couldn't see what she was doing), and then I got doused with a very large bucket of hot soapy water. So much water that it sloshed into my nose from the marble surface and I came up sputtering and half snorting/drinking soap water. She pushed my head back down and grabbed the exfoliating mitt lying next to me, and proceeded to slough off every single speck of dried skin I've been holding on to my entire life.

Luckily, it didn't really hurt (the mitt's surface is surprisingly gentle in its exfoliation), but that lady man-handled me like she was putting a spice rub on a slab o' meat. After she finished my back and the back of my legs (not to mention a good portion of my butt cheeks), she had me flip over and did the front. Yes, the front. I looked down at one point at the mitt she was using and I couldn't believe the amount of dead skin that had come off. Good grief, it looked like I never exfoliated! She finished by giving my face a somewhat gentler scrub and then poured more soapy water onto me. The "towel" I had been lying on was not used as a washcloth, and she washed away any remaining dead skin.

After I was cleaner than I had probably been in my entire life, she beckoned me over to the outer edges of the room. There were little ledges and water spickets all around the room. I sat on the ledge and she again doused me with a large amount of water. I barely had time to breathe in between. She then proceeded to wash my hair, and I had flashbacks of when my older sister had to wash my hair as a kid. Let's just say my sister had a gentler touch back then than this lady did. A final rinse of the hair and any remaining creases still covered in soap, and she sent me back to the marble slab with a smile. We were told that after our wash we could stay in the room and steam for as long as we wanted.

Nikki was quietly steaming and Megan had already left to get her massage. Nikki and I stayed for another 10-15 minutes, but I got restless and we eventually left to dry off. They did have showers available for use, but I was already feeling cleaner than I had the entire trip - maybe my entire life - so I didn't really feel like that was necessary. We both stopped to get a refreshment while we waited for Megan to finish up. And mine of course was freshly squeezed OJ. Yum!

Afterwards, we all changed, and tried to figure out if/how much/where to tip our ladies. Each one of them had been wearing a tag with a number on it, so we assumed this was a way to leave a tip if we were satisfied. A quick search in the lobby area didn't leave us with any answers, until one of the ladies indicated that we could pay them directly. I didn't see my lady out in the lobby anywhere, but the lady who had first had me lie down was eyeballing me quite intently. I just handed her a tip and left, not sure if that was the right thing to do or not.

My girl had left my scrubbing mitt with me, so I ended up taking it with me. Turns out they had some for sale, so I'm not sure if I was actually supposed to take it or not, but it's since been washed and is my favorite exfoliating tool! I can honestly say that the Turkish bath was one of the most unique and coolest things I've even done. I highly recommend it if you're ever in Turkey!!

On our way back to our hostel to freshen up and change for dinner some guy called us Charlie's Angels. Which, is actually kind of funny considering Megan is blonde, Nikki is Asian and my hair sometimes appears red. I hadn't really thought about it until that moment.

Someone else called me Jennifer Aniston today at one of the stalls. Not even remotely accurate, but if some foreign dude thinks I'm Jennifer Aniston, you can bet your ass I'm going to go with it.

Awesome hostel, I recommend it.

The hostel dog, Zaman. He's super sweet and cuddly, and I love him. He even has an Instagram account. Check him out @cheerszaman.

Our hostel lobby.

Our hostel patio.

View of Hagia Sophia from our hostel terrace.

Hostel bar.

Hostel lounge area.

Dinner was at the Cozy Pub & Restaurant, a much closer walk than the night before. We mainly went for the terrace view the host outside promised us. We weren't to be disappointed as we had another spectacular view of the Bay and the Blue Mosque with our dinner. The restaurant had everything from quesadillas to chicken fingers, and pasta to Turkish meats. I opted for a cozy chicken and some beer. The service wasn't anything to write home about, but we didn't really care as the weather was fantastic, the views were amazing, and we were celebrating our last night together in Istanbul. I mean, really, the bad service doesn't even matter at this point.

Blue Mosque

The views aren't too shabby here either.

"Cozy" chicken - chicken breast with ham, cheese, garlic, mushrooms and butter, breaded and served with rice, potatoes and veggies.

Elevator shenanigans.

On the way back we stopped to get some ice cream, and the street vendor gave us a magic show with it! Not really, but he was incredibly entertaining, and what's better than ice cream and a show? Especially when it's blackberry and lemon ice cream. Yum!

During Ramadan, Muslims can not eat until sundown, so the lines for some restaurants were crazy busy later in the evening. We assumed this one was really good given the lines in both directions.

Makes me glad we like to eat early!

Ice cream magician!

So good!

Sadly, this is our last night with Megan, but we were all so exhausted from our day of shopping/haggling and Turkish bathing that we didn't end up doing anything else, other than lounging in our hostel room. Sometimes it's nice to just recharge the batteries. And, our batteries were definitely running low at this point.