Sunday, July 20, 2014

Istanbul, from the rooftop with a beer

Sitting on the rooftop in Istanbul. Sun shining down drinking a beer (Efes, which isn't half bad I guess). The view is amazing and takes in much of Istanbul with a view over the Bospherus. Across the river the city keeps sprawling and is littered with thousands if buildings, mostly all old and with down. Towering above them, the Galata Tower. Amazing and impressive considering it was constructed in 1348 and is still completely intact today. On this side of the city, the skyline is littered with buildings new and old but all have the one same strange similarity. Satellite dishes. So strange how some buildings were built before anyone dreamed of satellite TV but now they all have the ugly things pointing out from them. Some rusty, some long broken and forgotten. Can't describe this view without talking about the mosques and minarets. They are everywhere, even if you can't see the mosque you can see its minarets. Amazing to think this city was the centre if Christianity for a long while and now all you see ate minarets. Its the crossroads of east and west, literally. One side if the Bospherus is Europe and the other Asia. You can feel it looking at it. I can't explain it. The way the clouds rush by and explode upwards, the way boats are constantly going in and out and even the way the birds all hover and patrol over the river. Very cool view. Now, my beer is almost finished and the sun is behind clouds. Its still an amazing view.

Update: I just ordered another beer.



Wednesday, July 16, 2014

I'm Back!

My last post was randomly reviewing TV series in 2012...like anyone was actually logging onto my blog to read my thoughts and comments.

Anyways, the blog posts that I did make while travelling in London and Spain turned out to be pretty good because I would not have remembered those days and events as well if I only had pictures of them. Therefore, instead of keeping a journal I think i'm going to do the same blog post/diary style entries for my trip to Europe this year.

I guess I'll give the URL out to a few people who may or may not actually read this but it will be more for me to look back on in an attempt to save the memory of all the little details I'll no doubt forget in the future.

It's Thursday now and I leave in 2 days! I feel pretty calm about the whole trip, not really stressing about anything. I guess if you've travelled a bit you get more and more comfortable with going away and don't worry about the little things like what to pack and if you've sorted all the details of your trip out before hand etc.

So my trip is sort of broken into 3 parts in my mind. First is the trip with my dad that includes Istanbul, Greece and finally Milan. Then I have my 'solo trip' to Sicily for 2 and half weeks followed by a mini trip to mainland Italy doing Rome and Florence with friends.
I'll break it down to my thoughts:

  • I can't wait to be chilling in Greece on the beach, having the odd frape and devouring the food
  • It will be interesting to see family in Greece I haven't seen either ever or since 1998 when I really wasn't paying attention!
  • Istanbul will be interesting...but I bet it's awesome.
  • I will probably have this feeling that i'm so close to the Greek islands and be frustrated that i'm not going there! (Murphy's Bar anyone?)
  • Seeing Milan and doing Lake Como and Swiss Alps from there will be cool and something I haven't done before. I think Milan will be better than I've been told it is, then again it might be exactly as I've been told!
  • Sicily...well know knows. I've wanted to go for a few years now. Why? I don't know, complicated I guess. More on this when I'm there or about to depart I think.
  • Hostels in Sicily should be good. Palermo could be very good and I imagine Taormina/Giardini Naxos could be either awesome or a bit flat. All depends on the people staying there. There are good time to be had, probably great times. All depends.
  • Driving in Sicily should be fine. I'd guess at the start I might be a bit stressed but I'm confident I'll be driving like a Siciliano by the end.
  • Getting to Rome and catching up with Nick and Charles will be epic after travelling alone for 2 and a half weeks! Food, drinks, nights out... Unimaginable potential!
  • Looking forward to doing Rome and Florence without the pressure or doing touristy things the whole time. Live life as close to the locals as possible.
  • Coming home. BOO. I think i'll be violent at the prospect. Leaving Florence at 6am will also be a test. 


So there, thought dump before I leave. I guess I'll post again when I'm in the land of the Turks (who thought I'd be going there!?).