Hi!!! Sorry i haven't updated in ages, things have been pretty crazy!! After my last entry, we went on a 3 night Greek Island cruise. In addition to the usual relaxing and partying, we visited Kusadasi, which is on the Asian side of Turkey. This is where ancient Ephesus is located, A city that has been excavated for the last 80 years, and isnt expected to be completed for another 100 years. It's one of the largest ancient cities ever found and was truly amazing. In the afternoon we went to Patmos, a Greek Island where the Monastery that St. Paul [View Full Entry]

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Ive now just made it to istanbul. 12 hour overnite bus and my bum is killing me. Lots to see and do here, im up now at 4 in the morning to get a good jump on things. i want to get out there before every thing fills with people. On todays agenda is the grand bazaar, blue mosque, and hagia sofia. Also, any others i stumble upon along the way. At this point im just waiting for some hot water to return for my shower, 24 hour hot water my ass! Ive got alot of the road to was off [View Full Entry]

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I guess this is my first day in Istanbul and I am still at the hostel. Luckily I have met a Turkish girl from Izmir staying here at the hostel who wants to get a flat somewhere in Besiktas and is looking for a flatmate. Right now she is happy at the hostel but next week we are going to look at the real estate agents in Besiktas. If that doesn’t work I will just have to find something else. Two days ago now I had something of an adventure trying to find the Kurdish Language Institute but even more of [View Full Entry]

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Well! We have been ahvıng an awesome tıme here ın Europe! Mıcaela has been keepıng a diary of everywhere and everything we have been doing and will post it when she has time to type for hours on end. So most likely back home. Anyway! We entered Turkey today after spendıng some tıme ın Greece on the Island of Corfu and then Athens. Corfu was amazıng and we traveled around ın style on a Quad. Lots of fun. The last two nıghts were at tow lovely campsıtes wıth lots of good food and fun to be had. Turkey ıs lovely so [View Full Entry]

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Well, it seems that my trip has actually started. I dont think I believe it yet but it had better become real sometime soon. My flights yesterday were long and grueling. I think I slept only a few hours. I ended up meeting a very nice Indian graduate student who will be presenting a research paper on offshoring at the World Economic Congress. She was really bright and we talked about many things during my three hour layover in London and then on the airplane. She ended up helping find my way to my hostel with very little trouble to myself. [View Full Entry]

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So we finally arrived in Istanbul after our 15 hour train ride of getting man-handled, screamed at, and woken up numerous times from the Turkish immigration officers. But hey, at least we had beds for this one... we actually caught up on some sleep on this journey so all of us took the ride generally well. When we arrived in the city, we (once again) went on a search for our hostel by metro and was able to ride one of the oldest metros in the area. It was a little odd riding this because there were no stops, just one [View Full Entry]

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A great highlight of Istanbul is the cats that surround you. THere are multitudes of cats of the street, they are sometimes dirty and thin, but often they are just as healthy as can be, and you often see them being fed by kindly benefactors. They tend to live in groups in parks, around mosques and markets, and have their own little territories. Children greet them with delight, but often the kitty is not as delighted with the child. They have their own business to attend to, but will usually stop and give a nice pose for a photo. There is [View Full Entry]

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The last days in Istanbul were spent partially laid up with a twisted ankle which was interesting, seeing as still had miles to go before I went home! I twisted it in the harem in Topkapi palace, maybe overcome with the feelings of claustrophobia in the narrow marble corridors listening for the sounds of the sultan in his silver slippers... I could feel the souls of the trapped women, although it is true that many wanted to be there and were sold voluntarily by their parents with the wish that they could end up in the Topkapi Serail - the pinnacle [View Full Entry]

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Turkey 2008 was extremely cool. [View Full Entry]

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Istanbul is one of the world's most fascinating cities. It boasts a history reaching back thousands of years. Constantine declared it the capital of the eastern Roman Empire, calling Constantinople the "New Rome" in 330AD. For the next thousand years the city was the coveted gem in the crown of what came to be known as the Byzantine Empire. Many ancient remains of Byzantium can still be visited, the wonderful Aya Sofya remains one of the world's most beautiful buildings, as well as being one of the most interesting historically. Completed first in 537AD under Emporer Justinian, converted into a mosque [View Full Entry]

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