Jimspeak

A plane got us there. Quite boring in comparison to all the bus trips we'd recently survived. But I must say, it was not an unwelcome change! A short zany bus ride through Istanbul rush hour traffic dropped us at the ferry dock. A ferry ride and tram ride later and we were back at the hostel by the Aya Sofya, checking in and longing for a cold beer beverage. As we filled out the requisite forms, three of the girls we met in Goreme walked in and they whisked us off to dinner and we compared stories.

What different trips we had! When we parted ways, they headed west towards the ocean and beaches. Apparently, they also landed right in the middle of a paradise for honeymooning package tourists from England (their home as well). The ruckus was such a spectacle that they actually tried to cover up their accents in an attempt to not be associated with the riffraff. Suffice it to say, our stories shocked them a bit. And made them slightly jealous. Only very slightly. Their stories made me very happy that we took the route we did. I might have drowned myself had I been with them (an easy task seeing as how my flotational skills are non-existent).

The days that followed were quite relaxing. Finally we got to some more of the sights of the city. We met up with Rick and Ethem for lunch and dinner, had a great time getting to know Nat more, and reveled in the foreignness of the city.

On the preappointed day we awoke in Rick's apartment and snagged a taxi to the airport and another easy flight. To Germany. Which is close to Belgium...

But that is another tale