My first night in town was kind of a bust due to the fact that I was unbelievably tired. We wandered around Munich, made our way up to the top of one of the towers...had some very big beers and at what I think is spatzel (excuse my spelling), some amazing kind of German mac'n cheese. We hung around for a while and I said I was going up to my room to splash some water on my face, and when Brad said "alright, see you in the morning" I just scoffed at him...so of course, I went to my room and crashed out at 9:30pm from lack of sleep. This is the problem with sleeping in airports, you lack the motivation to make it very far the next day. So I woke up at midnight to realize that there were 3 Italian twentysomethings coming into my room, new roommates. They were harmless, but drunk and annoying...thank god they passed out quickly after getting back...and I was able to gain vindication by my alarm going off bright and early at 7:30 the next morning. Don't you just love the hostel lifestyle?
The next day we woke early and put on our drindls and leiderhosen and headed to the tents to try to get in right away....little did we know that Hippodrom didn't open til 10. So we mucked around for a bit and were there right as the door opened and had some of the first beers in the place. We met some new people and drank the day away. I was of course dragged onto the scariest, highest swing ride ever after we left the tents that afternoon. It was all good fun with German music, and costumes and loads of people everywhere. I would love to say that it all ended with a night of crazy debauchery and ridiculousness, but after spending 9 euros per beer plus food....we were all wiped out. We somehow managed to get our stuff from the first hostel and take it to our new digs on the other side of town. Brad napped, and Darin and I found the most beautiful old cemetery across the street and strolled through that for a bit. After that, there was a lot of sleeping and internet uploads....then some dinner...and that's pretty much it. It was a great time, and the one day that I got there seemed like plenty. We the sheer amount of carnage on the streets that morning (i.e. I've never seen so much vomit in my life), I was cool with just making it an afternoon affair. I had to get to Turkey early the next morning.
You all know how bad my fear of flying is, and I have to say that with all of this, I think I've gotten better. I even keep the window open now! The flight was flawless and the landscapes were beautiful. I need to make it up to Croatia and Slovenia before I leave this continent. From the plane, it was just beautiful, green, rolling hills and peaked mountains as far as you can see.
I arrived in Istanbul and somehow managed to make it to my hostel. Everyone seems incredibly nice...maybe too nice...I'm just cynical like that. I had about 5 people help me with directions and all of them were wrong (but kept getting me closer) except the last one. Either way, I made it, the hostel seems nice and there are tons of people all over this street that seem cool. I went over and saw the Blue Mosque today and wandered through a gorgeous park all the way to the Maramar sea. It was late by the time I got here...so it will be an early night and early mornıng to get as much in as possible. I'm still not sure how long I'll be in Istanbul or where I'll head from here.
Some things I've learned about Turkey so far...
-- They don't believe ın street signs, traffic lights, speed limits, etc.
--The Italian machismo that I thought I'd get ın Italy...it all right here in Turkey.
--When you're near a tourist site you will get many men wanting to give you information as to what you should be doing, but insist that they are definitely not guides.
--If you want to be a travel agent, move here...I've already gotten a job offer to be one...I would run the travel agency while the owner sells carpets on the side.
--Everyone wants you to eat at their restaurant...everyone...these Turks are the best marketers/pushiest salesmen I've ever met. (But they're telling the truth, the food actually is the best!)
--Istanbul is by far the most beautıful city that I have seen yet...and I've only seen one small street, two mosques, a park, and the view of the sea.
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