Saturday:

Today started with excitement over Spain and sadness over leaving Turkey. It quickly turned to panic. Omer suggested I do my web check-in before Idil came to go for breakfast. That is when I discovered my flight was for 6:00am, not 6:00pm and it was 9:30am. (these were the papers that went AWOL in Goa) Enter the feeling of absolute panic that is impossible to express and you find yourself wandering in circles because you have no idea what to do. Thankfully Omer is an experienced traveller and we were soon going over the options. I called the airline in Spain and as expected, you snooze you lose, literally. Then we started looking to see what the cheapest option was including planes and trains. We couldn’t book stuff online for some reason and we had to go to the airport anyway to mail my package so I packed my bag in weak hope that it would get sorted and get me to Spain in time for Monday. At the post office it turned out the machines were down for the weekend and now I was stuck with a box of stuff on top of everything else. Back at the airline desk that was supposed to open at 1:00 but it was 1:45 now. Turns out my flight was transferable, umm, awesome! The flight were sold out until the next evening though, boo. Unless I wanted to upgrade to business class, for a mere 197euro instead of the original 519euro, SCORE! After warm goodbye’s and inexpressible gratitude to my saviour and companions from the last 3 weeks (seriously, Omer even changed my Turkish Lira for Euro’s), it was off to wait until check-in an hour later. I waited in the slow going lineup until I realized I could go through the VIP one with people wondering what was up with the backpacking hippie girl in first class, I flew through with no extra charge on the box of stuff and up to the lounge where I had something to eat and access to wifi. Got a whole row to myself on the flight and a great dinner, the plane was nothing fantastic but I had piles of space and played musical chairs confusing the poor guy in front who unexpectedly tilted back to hear my clattering dishes that thankfully never spilled. Next flight, back to the VIP room in the gorgeous Barajas airport in Madrid with power to charge the iPod and on my second flight, I had all of business class to myself. The flight was shorter than I thought and next thing I knew I was in Seville. I decided that the box was a bit of a pain but also good because now I’d have a larger wardrobe to work with for the month. I took a cab to the Samay hostel which is fantastic, after some twittering and facebooking, I climbed on my bunk and went to sleep.

Sunday:

I missed the sun! Oh heat, how I missed you too! I’m sitting on the rooftop at the Samay drinking tea and blogging at my leisure while my stuff waits in storage for when I go to my apartment later. I’ve been trying to figure out where all the places I need to go tomorrow will be and found that everything is pretty much walking distance. I’ll be taking a walking tour later to get my bearings and getting my plans for tomorrow tighter. I’m loving the ability to understand the majority of what people say and everyone has been so helpful! From the couple on the plane who gave me their daughters info in case I need it, to the futball scout who made sure I got to my next flight, to the cabbie who took me to the hostel, to the people at the front desk. Men actually offer their seats to women, stand up when you come near, ladies first through every doorway… I’m home.

Thursday:

Today was finally the day to see all the things people come to Istanbul to see. After going past blocks and blocks of fabric shops, cell phone shops and Mosques, I got off the tram at the Sultanahmet station. My first stop were the Basilica Cisterns, eerie yet beautiful and almost solemn. They weren’t originally on my list but they came highly recommended from Omer and I’m glad I went. Next stop, ice cream. The crowds were kinda insane in the main center so I wanted to chill for a bit before things got crazy. I was expecting these crowds in India, not here, what was nice though was seeing Indian tourists, I didn’t realize how much I missed seeing women wearing sari’s. While I sat I was approached by multiple fellows wanting to practice English on their ‘day off’, one went away on his own and wasn’t too bad, the other seemed like he would follow me to every site so I got rid of him by taking his number and saying I would call but I didn’t. I definitely prefer wandering at my own leisure and not feeling like I have to keep a conversation going. I checked out the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, the familiar arches, domes, intricate mosaics and tiles, stained glass and lanterns were stunning. Next stop, Ayasofya. Again, wow, the golden incredibly high domes, the Arabic influence seamlessly blended in with the Roman, has to be seen to be believed.

The highlight for me though had to be the Archeological Museum and the Topkaki Palace. I was originally going to save it for the next day but Omer suggested I did it then and there. I ended up spending 4 hours in total compared to less than than 2 hours for the previous 3 places. The museum had an enormous collection and I kept thinking I had come to the end of it but would find a whole other wing or floor of history. Millenias of statues and artifacts, gaining more detail as the centuries moved forward in the collection. My favorite was the Necropolis, here were all the portions of the tombs that were missing from the sites. The most amazing item in the collection had to be Alexanders tomb though, absolutely incredible. I finally made it out of the museum and was surprised there was still daylight, I felt like I could have spent several more hours but I was getting tired and a little overwhelmed, so much to take in! From there I went to explore the Topkaki Palace Museum, the highlight there being the treasury. I’m not even kidding, there were emeralds as big as my fist and an 83karat diamond. Drinking flasks with matching pen boxes coated in rubies, diamonds and emeralds. I even saw a jewel encrusted throne that was a spoil of war from the Moghul’s in India to tie my journey together nicely.

It was definitely a successful day of sightseeing. It ended with a light dinner after the previous days excess that included shrimp and Iranian watermelon. Only one day left!

Friday:

As I saw the sights yesterday, it was time to wander in Taksim, where people go to see and be seen. I was surprised at the large military presence but they were just preparing for labour day as it would be the first time in decades that the area would be open after violent protests the last time. I hadn’t meant to buy shoes, I was going to wait until Spain to replace the ones I had bought last summer in San Francisco that were now falling apart. I saw some from a local brand that I couldn’t resist and fit the bill of being comfortable, flat, and wearable with jeans and skirts. I walked up and down the area a couple times, stopping in familiar shops to browse and Lush, just to smell it. Afterwards I sat in one of the many alleyways of cafe’s to drink some tea and people watch. I then started the hunt to figure out how to get back to Sultanahmet. In the end I had to call Omer who shared the secret I was lacking, I needed to go underground, which would explain why I couldn’t find the funicular earlier. Once there, I decided to brave the Bazaar again to pick up a few things to send home. This time wasn’t quite as entertaining as it was quite busy so instead of being approached by everyone to enter their shop, I had a hard time getting attention in the shops I entered. I feel I did well, the people I dealt with gave me appropriate prices except the guy who tried to sell me a necklace with plastic beads for 25TL, saying they were glass, he even went down to 5TL but the fact that he was dishonest in the first place kept my feet moving in the other direction. Once I had what I had come for, it was back home with a stop at the mall to pick up a few necessities, like cartoon bandaids for my improving wound. Tea tree oil I think is what finally got things healing again, it’s no longer swollen and it doesn’t hurt as much.

Back at Omer’s it was time to get dolled up for a friend’s birthday. It happened to be at the restaurant I had been wanting to take Omer and Idil to so it worked out well. Everyone was really welcoming and the birthday girl asked if she could hate me because I was going to Seville, danced Flamenco, spoke Spanish and was half Spanish as we walked arm in arm to a Cuban club. What a perfect way to transition from Turkey to Spain! There was a live band and on the breaks, very familiar music that I can’t help but dance to. There was a large group of us that took over an area of the bar where we all danced together amongst the couples that knew how to dance to Salsa and Merengue, mine was way too rusty to try with a partner! I gave out my contact info so we could all keep in touch in the future as we all hugged and cheek pecked our goodbyes once the length of the day started to show on our faces, with regrets we hadn’t met sooner. Omer and I finished the night with some Russel Peter and I slept like the dead.