Istanbul

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I have arrived safely but thoroughly jet lagged in Istanbul. I lay awake most of last night, and then was suprised when I woke up at two in the afternoon. So I had to cut a few things from todays itinerary...

I got off the plane yesterday morning at about ten am, got through customs without a problem, and soon discovered my debit card wouldn't work. I had called the bank at least three times before I left to make sure there would be no problem, but alas...so I attempted to call the bank from a pay phone, but for a pay phone you need a phone card or a credit card. I tried my credit card first, but it promptly got stuck, and I spent a half hour trying to remove it from the machine with tweezers. This Turkish couple took pity on me, as they had a smalled pair of tweezers and they were able to remove it finally. Once I recovered my visa card, I decided it was safer to buy a phone card...so i finally called the bank but they were closed until 7am. 5pm turkish time....I changed a little of the cash I had on me and made my way on the metro down to the hostel area...I basically sat around until 5 in the garden outside the mosque, trying not to fall asleep, and not buying anything because i wasn't sure how long the money i had, had to last.

At 5 I got a hold of the bank, but had to call three times, in between running to the ATM across the street to see if the problem was fixed. All the while I was at a pay phone across from the mosque and the customer service lady was like. where are you? when she heard the call for prayer blaring in the background. third time was charm and i finally got some money, and thus finally go some food. My stomach doesn't really want to eat except in the middle of the night when it is lunch time on the west coast.

Today I wandered around aya sofia and the blue mosque. The blue mosque was amazingly beautiful on the inside, i donned a head scarf and all...though honestly it smelled like feet, which was kind of distracting...since you take your shoes off at the door. they should make the feet washing mandatory. I sat in a shady tea garden for a good part of the afternoon, and then wandered down to the waterfront to watch the fishermen. I back at the hostel, and will be watching the world cup at the noisy bar downstairs from my hostel. Go france right??

Hope everyone is doing well! Love Alana. I will upload pictures when I get to a computer with a plug in thing.

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Comments

[Tiziana]

Fabulous!
I would have lost my shit... but then, thats why I'm not a trendy world travler. Its July 19th now, where are you today??? You must post more!