Drifting through Istanbul, Turkey

Two weekends ago I had the great opportunity of taking a trip to Istanbul, Turkey. I have witnessed many Asian and European cultures, but somewhere like Turkey, a Middle Eastern culture was totally new. Istanbul is an interesting country situated on two different countries resulting in both a Europe side and an Asia side. I had no idea what to expect going to somewhere like Istanbul which is built upon different traditions, customs, and a deep history within the region.

I made the flight with one of my roommates (Jason) and three other classmates (Tyler, Phil, and Matt) who lived down the hall from us. Three hours later and a quick stop in Munich we were in Istanbul. Immediately upon arriving in the airport you could sense a different environment. Istanbul is a huge city with over 13 million residents and you could feel an intense rush in the atmosphere. Clothing styles were drastically different and shop signs were in Turkish or Arabic, a language style I had never really witnessed in person before. In many European languages you can make a good guess as to what some of the words could mean, in Turkish that wasn't going to happen. After looking around for transportation to our hostel in the city center we eventually were able to find a large bus to take us. Upon entering we thought purchasing a ticket meant you were reserved a seat. It really just bought you a spot to stand in the crowded and heated bus. A half hour later of standing we were at our station and tried out our first Turkish kebab which didn't disappoint. We eventually found our hostel a couple hours later after searching and getting distracted by the busy city center. Upon arriving at the hostel we were told that we would have to knock on the door after 10:00, because they would be shutting the lights and locking the doors up. This we learned was due to the increased police security measures put up after the protests that had occurred this summer. This also answered why there were so many cops with riot materials situated throughout the main square.

During our four days in Istanbul we traveled to a wide variety of locations that we wouldn't be able to venture into in Europe. This included the Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sophia, Blue Sophia, Basilica Cisterns, and a ferry ride between Europe and Asia. Each was beautiful and unique in their own ways. I was much more excited to see the mosques after seeing so many churches the last few months. It was quite an experience learning about how the mosques are shut off to the public for certain periods throughout the day for people to come in and do their praying sessions. Sirens would go off throughout the city with a man chanting the prayers from the mosques. The Grand Bazaar was also an interesting experience. Here we practiced our bargaining skills out and found out how well we could really haggle with the merchants. The Grand Bazaar was filled with everything from gold, silver, textiles, silk goods, spices, to any item you could really think of. One item we all had on our wish list were the Tshalvar pants, aka Aladin pants. Eventually we came across a man who sold them and gave us a group discount price at 35 liras a piece. Not too shabby.

The Basilica Cisterns were an amazing sight to see. We were able to go down to the cisterns on our last night in Istanbul and were definitely surprised at what the stairs lead us down to when we initially entered. The cistern is made up a system of waterways that guide the river water underneath the city through a system of channels. The whole system is also supported by stone pillars which made the whole view even grander. There was a very eerie, mysterious feel when you walked around the cistern because of the dim lighting, humid atmosphere, and grandness of the whole system. After the Basilica Cisterns we decided to treat ourselves to a nice seafood restaurant that definitely quenched my desire for some great seafood. A sea bass, glass of red wine, and some additional shopping for the moms and we were on our way back to the hostel to hit the Turkish nightlife once again. Istanbul has a great nightlife and some of the hangouts provided some amazing views of the city.

Two things I will always remember about Istanbul are the friendliness of the Turkish people and the delicious street oysters which were always an early morning snack. My initial mindset of the Turkish people was that they would be cold and hesitant towards Westerners. I was definitely wrong. Anywhere we went someone would be willing to socialize with us, guide us in the right direction, or happily practice their English with you. They are a very receptive and open type of people that you could build many strong relationships with. As with the street oysters, Phil and I could never get enough of. Our first night was an initial purchase of 30 oysters, which then grew to 50, and 80 over the course of the next few nights. You can't find a much better 2 a.m. snack that will hit the spot as these oysters always did for us. Mixed with rice and spices this local Turkish specialty is something I highly recommend if you make your way through Istanbul.

A Road Trip to Remember

This past weekend I made a trip with a few of my roommates to southeast Europe. I had mentioned earlier about a road trip that we didn't think was going to materialize. It actually happened. After arriving in Bratislava, Slovakia by bus we settled into our hostel and ventured around the city for day before deciding that nothing could be more exciting than renting a car. Our original idea was to take a train all the way to Begrade, Serbia. However, with the amount of time it would take to get there it would give us hardly anytime to spend there. A group decision was made and we decided to rent the car. We drove down six hours going through parts of Austria to get to the capital of Croatia...Zagreb.

As we neared the border of Croatia we noticed numerous checkpoints in the distance. Croatia is not a member of the Schengen group which meant you weren't able to travel freely between countries as you can in the EU without going through a customs inspection. It should've been a piece of cake getting through. Eventually, we made it up to the border post and handed them our passports. The guard asked his normal routine questions and did background checks as he scanned each of our passports. "Where are you coming from?", "What are you doing in Zagreb?", "How long are you here for?", and so on. What felt like a half hour ended up with us getting a request to pull over on the side of the road for a car inspection. Out of every car passing through we were the ones getting the inspection. Each of us were asked to slowly take our backpacks and jackets out of the car. The border patrol office then began a slow, thorough search through every compartment and bag he could possibly find in our rental car. Every type of container, food material, or suspicious looking items he would ask us to open.

So, after going through our car and finding nothing out of the ordinary that he was hoping he'd catch us with we thought we were free to go. Not the case. The border officer had yet another request. To do a bag check through all our items one by one in their inspection office. And so began yet another search through all our belongings with other border patrol officers coming to the assistance hoping one of these four college students would be stupid enough to have something on them. Finally, after baggage instruction and pant-drop search we were free to go. Welcome to Croatia.

After the hour long search and 45 minutes to the capital we got to our hostel. Finally settled. It was a Friday night and we still had some energy left over so we went our exploring the Zagreb nightlife.

Zagreb is a beautiful city with a huge hill in the back part of the city. This makes for long uphill climbs throughout the city and a nice workout as we explored the city during our time there. The city felt very spread out to me and I thought it was much more inhabited than the 1 million citizens living within the city. One very distinct feature about the city is the amount of cafe shops they have on every block. I don't think I've ever seen so many people sitting, drinking coffee within one street intersection radius in my life before. We toured the city by foot mostly and saw many of the historical landmarks. That night we were told that there was a beautiful lake just outside the city limits where people went to have fun on the weekends. After a short taxi ride we decided to hang out at a hotspot called The Mansion. It was an eventful night to say the least with meeting some nice Croatian people in the club to having a not so friendly encounter with some hooligans when we were leaving...

After Zagreb, we decided to go to the seaport city of Reyika and some smaller towns in the surrounding areas. We had our expectations set too high thinking we would have a nice warm beach, sunny weather, and awesome seafood. It just wasn't the right time of the year. We roamed the seaside a bit and checked out the center part of the city.

We decided to take the road trip back home that Sunday and drove through Ljubljana, Slovenia and Gratz, Austria on the way back. Both were very beautiful cities.  In Slovenia we stopped by to see the castle and some local delicacies which were scrumptious. In Gratz we strolled through the old town and ate a quick dinner before hitting the road again to Bratislava where we had to have the car back that night.

Once we made it back to Bratislava we returned the car and made out preparations to go back home to good ol' Prague. Nothing seemed better than home after such a long and eventful journey.