Grabbing Istanbul By The Horns

The pub-crawl caused us to wake a little later than expected so our plans had to adapt to the tardy start. Luckily for us, Mehmet “The Legend” Shark was there to save the day. He offered to drive a group of us to Black Sea for the day because of the exceptional beaches. After all 8 of us met outside the hostel, we began walking to his car. We thought he was joking when he pointed at the small Honda Civic parked on the sidewalk. He was not. All 8 of us crammed into the car for over an hour, both ways, to experience that Black Sea. It was definitely worth it. Mehmet’s fun attitude and crazy driving skills kept the rides interesting. We also almost ran out of gas at one point and ended up coasting into a gas station on fumes.

We kept a low profile after the beach and made it to bed early. The next morning, it was refreshing to wake up with the energy for an active day. Our first stop was the Topkapi Palace. The palace was the residence of all of the Ottoman Sultans from the 1450’s to the 1850’s.  Today, the palace continues to bring in tourists from all over the globe and is considered one of the top three attractions in Istanbul. With a great view of the Marmara Sea, we both wandered around the palace’s garden, apartments and halls for over an hour.

Due to the palace’s location in Istanbul, next, it only made sense to check out one of the island’s off the coast of Turkey on the Asian side of the country. After an hour-long ferry, we found ourselves on the shore of Buyakada, the largest and most popular of the 5 islands. The moment we stepped off the ferry, our friends from Holland magically appeared. The group of four, led by our favorite Dutchmen, “Eagle”, joined us immediately after we performed “The Eagle Has Landed Call”. We were now a wolf pack of six, roaming the streets of Buyakada looking for beaches and Turkish Pizza. Interestingly enough, we saw a house catch on fire while we waited for our Pides (the pizza). Pretty random but we got a story out of it.

Unfortunately for the wolfpack, the beach consisted of large rocks and rough water. The water felt great but it was pretty dangerous to stay in the water for a long period of time. After a quick dip, we got back on the ferry and headed back towards the hostel because we had a date; a date with two, large and hairy Turkish men at the local bath. It was awkward at first, as both men were pretty rough on us. However, after a good amount of tough loving, they scrubbed us down and worked out all of the kinks in our bodies.  You haven’t had your back cracked until you have a Turkish man flatten your spine on a marble table. After getting punished on the marble, we exited the shower potion of our bath and went into the main lobby for a cup of tea. It was all very relaxing and quite the authentic experience. A walk home along the shore allowed us to grab a famous fish sandwich and fill up just enough before we hit the streets of Taksim for our last night. The first bar we entered ended up being the hangout for a group of Turkish TV stars. We had never heard of them but that didn’t stop us from telling them that we were huge fans and drinking with them for free. It was a great time for our last evening Turkey.

Our flight to India the next day was in the middle of the day so we couldn’t do much. However, arriving at the airport was just what we needed to make our stay in Istanbul perfect. Upon entering the food court, we noticed that Popeye’s was in business. Spicy Chicken and fries never tasted so good; and of course, we washed it all down with a soda and some BUTTERMILK BISCUITSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.