Adventure Abroad: Istanbul Turkey

So unfortunate timing after my engagement means that I "must" travel outside the EU in order to extend my visa in the EU until at least the first of the year. I decided to head to the Balkans which means I'll spend most of the next month in a country ending in -ia. My itinerary is to fly into Istanbul and then take trains and buses through Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Hungary and then Austria for Thanksgiving with Em and her friends from work.

First stop, Istanbul Turkey.

Day 1: Rainy

Looking north standing on the European side with Asia on the right.

Tons of stray cats everywhere. This one hassled me for ten minutes so I gave him 1 Lira and he went on his way.

Tavuk Doner yum.

The main walking strip in Taksim, which is like a really big 16th street mall.

Fresh food market

They sweets here are really good, turkish delight, and any type of baklava you can think of.

An interesting thing about Istanbul is that all the stores specialize in one thing (ie. musical instruments). The thing is the entire block is all instrument stores. You would think the competition would make them spread out.

The Satellite block

The trophy block. Really a whole block of trophy stores?????

Locals fishing off the bridge. I kept telling that guy to smile, but this was the best shot I got....oh well.

In front of the Mosque in the picture above. The guy on the right was selling Bird Flu shots, while the guy on the left was singing the Mary Poppins song "Feed the Birds".

The Spice Bazaar was overwhelming on all of my senses. I guess I looked foriegn because I was
constantly approached by store owners to come have a look. This one guy my age actually followed me around trying to figure out what language I spoke. He started with English and then switched to French, and then Spanish. I played dumb like I didn't understand and then thought I found his weak spot.....Italian. I said "sono Italiano" thinking he would split...oh no...he jumped right into Italian, and quickly found out I didn't speak very well at all. In the end we both had a good laugh and he sent me on my way. Moral of the story just act deaf.

Spices

See below

More baklava.

Day2: The Blue Mosque

The Hagia Sofia Museum

The block of manikin stores in case you need one.

All belt buckles.

Wondering around off the beaten path. This was right after a guy jumped in front of me and started to glue the front of my shoe back together and then proceeded to shine my tennis shoes?? I knew he was going to demand way too much (10 Lira) so I gave him 2 which, more than covered the glue and polish. Needless to say due to him fixing the toe of my shoe I was able to out run him in a 50 meter dash.