Hola, guys. It's been a while. Isn't it funny when there's so much to say, there's so little time to actually say it? Well, that's how it's been. And limited internet doesn't help either. But, excuses excuses.
Now, I'm in Santander, Spain. It's been a whirlwind trip so far.
We spent two weeks in Turkey for the first leg. I absolutely loved Turkey. The culture, the landscape, the architecture, most things. It feels like forever ago, but here's a super quick cliff notes version.
The first few days we spent in Istanbul. I would have liked more time there, since there was SO much to see. The last day, we met these two guys from the states and all of us headed out to sightsee together, along with our German roommate, Sara. We saw the spice bazaar (meh, kinda touristy), the cisterns (amazing underground labryinth to hold water hundreds of years ago), the markets (actual markets frequented by locals, but carts and bikes will RUN YOU DOWN if you don't get the hell out of the way), and finally we finished our day by sipping turkish apple chai along the Sea of Marmara and watching the ferries chug by. It was a beautiful goodbye to a beautiful city.
That night, we hopped over to Capadoccia. Well, hopped isn't the right word, at all. Walked to a tram, then took a ferry, found the train station, took a night train, walked to a metro line in Ankara, found the bus station, figured out how to buy tickets, took a four hour bus ride, and walked to our hostel. The night train was a ton of fun. Besides almost missing it, getting locked out of our room accidentally, and the train being three hours late (in typical Turkish fashion), it was a wonderful way to see the countryside with AC!
Capadoccia was amazing. It was hot as hell, but the scenery was awesome. We hiked through gorgeous geological wonders, with 3rd century caves dug out with primitive sticks to form monasteries.
Next up was Pamukkale. Beautiful salt travertines sat up the mountain from the village. They are a natural wonder, formed from mineral deposits coming from springs.
From there, Fethiye, Turkey, along the coast. We paraglided the second day, which was stunning. The ride UP the mountain was scarier (in my opinion) than jumping off of it. We defied gravity and a few laws of motion as we narrowly avoided pummeting over cliffs in our top-heavy truck driven by a crazy Turkish man. All of a sudden, I was strapped into a harness, attached to a tandem guide and chute, and we floated off the mountain on a wind gust. That time in the air, gazing down at the breathtaking view, was one of those times when I try to soak in every view, make every second slow down, and realize that I'm here, floating in the air, in Turkey, with great people having a great time.
We popped over to Greece by ferry the next day, to the labryinthine, historic, and tourist-filled Rhodes. Wandering through the cobblestone streets and getting lost (which we did a lot) was the best part of being there.
Santorini. Ah, Santorini. I never thought it would as beautiful as it was. I was blown away. The second day, we took a boat trip for 20 euros and climbed to the top of the caldera mountain, swam in red-water hot springs, and climbed ANOTHER mountain to a small fishing village. After the tour, we climbed YET ANOTHER mountain after cliff-jumping into the clear water. The next day we went on a four hour hike from Thira to Oia, and came back just in time to RUN to the bus station, catch the bus, then catch a cab, catch the night ferry to Athens, catch another cab in Athens at 5:30am, and crash in our hostel's common room. We slept there until 9:30am or so, when we were awakened by the Ferris Bueler soundtrack being played SO LOUD. Athens was great, even though it was a whirlwind trip that went by in a blink.
Now... Spain. I've been here for about three weeks, and I love it!
The times of everything are so weird. Lunch is at 2:30pm. Siesta starts after that, and goes til about 5pm (everything except little coffee shops or restaurants is closed), then dinner usually starts between 9:30pm and 10:30pm. Pinchos (tapas) are awesome! Gelato is awesome. I'm going to come back like 70 pounds heavier at the rate I'm going.
I miss every one (of the 2 people that are reading this)!
Con besos y abrazos!
your assignment, should you choose to accept it: figure out what they do with babies there. do they wear baby gap like we do? strollers? slings? i am curious for obvious reasons and i'm not sure that's really something i can Google. plus, you're out on the street doing stuff. you'll see kids. :)
ReplyDeletelove you!