Parallel universe

I am going to start this post with a quote from my sister regarding the pictures I sent her from this weekend "Erynn is living in a parallel universe where her little sister smokes hookahs with dark men in Istanbul."

There are so many stories to tell from this weekend it is hard to pick just a few to bore you with.

1. bathrooms
2. friendly turks
3. bazaars/salesmen
4. Turkish bath

1. Ok for this first story it is important to note my deep hatred for public restrooms. Please keep in mind that last summer despite feeling like I might explode on our trip home from Ocean City, I seriously considered going another hour just because I didn't want to touch a gas station bathroom. It was only because Cecilia was getting fed that I finally talked myself into braving it - I didn't die. That was a training ground for Istanbul....

While out on our grand tour of the city on Sunday, we stopped for lunch in a Bospherous-side restaurant for fish "hygeine" sandwiches. While we waited for our meal to arrive Alex and I headed for the bathroom, or what we thought was the bathroom. As I opened up the stall, I saw something like this
only no toilet paper and water, or at least what i hope was water, covering the floor. Needless to say, I was about ready to walk out and just hold it the rest of the day but I braved it with the help of some kleenex from Alex. My quads got a work out and I conquered a small part of my public-restroom-phobia.

2. I think Turks must be the friendliest people - even more than Midwesterners. Twice when asking for directions to our next location, the person instead of just pointing us in the right direction, personally escorted us there expecting nothing in return and sometimes when the location really wasn't that close. In addition, we met 2 guys while having a drink on Sat night who drew us this itinerary for our grand tour on Sunday and then later offered to be our personal tour guides for the day. I couldn't have imagined a better way to tour the city than with 2 locals who really wanted us to just like their city. Alex and I really couldn't believe that they were being that nice. And parents, I know you may think this sounds sketchy but I promise my girl radar was on and they were truly just nice guys I mean look at this map - how couldn't they be nice.
3. while touring the bazaars on both Sunday and Monday, the shop owners were very creative in their attempts to get you to come inside and to not haggle you too low. A few examples would include "Can I please help you to spend your money?" or when haggling with a store keeper he looked very pitiful and asked me in a very sad tone "Are you trying to cut my profit?" to which I replied "Yes, yes I am" - ha. I also liked the line of our Turkish delight salesman to me, "I offer a special just to the beautiful blue-eyed girl... (pause while he looks more closely at my eyes) I mean green eyes." I loved the bazaars and while I know that I would get annoyed if I had to handle those crowds more often, it was so much fun to do it once!

4. Alex and I ended our stay in Istanbul with a trip to a Turkish bath. The bath in Istanbul was much different than the baths here in Budapest which are more like giant jacuzzis and no real "bathing" goes on per se. Instead I got a full scrub down (literally) from a large Turkish woman. It was just the way I needed to end the weekend - pure relaxation.

I am hopeful that someday I will make it back to Turkey for a longer stay. It was a great way to spend my 3 day weekend!