The Balkan Yankee

Washing their feet

Originally uploaded by garthwalker

My sister Kelsey is in Europe right now for her first time. She has been staying with me in Sofia, and we’ve been traveling together for the last week, first to the Bulgarian Seaside at Sozopol on Monday(yes, I go there all the time), and then to Istanbul, Turkey for the last 3 days just returning this morning.

Sozopol was nice, we just relaxed on the beach trying desperately to color our pale skin. I think Kelsey was a little more successful than I.

We arrived in Istanbul on Tuesday via multiple bus connections. We were road weary and I think the culture shock was closing in around Kelsey, literally, in fact, when I returned from buying a map of the city to find her and Boyana surrounded by Turkish men trying to “help” them. So, we scoop up our baggage, and jump into an innocuous looking taxi and tell him where we need to go. The next 30 minutes would read something like the extended cut of one famous scene from Bullit staring Steve Mc Queen.

After we finally got to my friend’s house, sweating and a little shakey in the limbs, I wasn’t sure we would ever be able to cheer her up. But, the next 2 days were filled with wonderul meals, wonderful views, and lots of history and culture. The least you can except in a city like Istanbul. I would call the trip a success. Mom… Dad… Kelsey may tell you otherwise.

I love the city. It reminds me in many ways of the things I love about San Francisco. Sure, It would take me a while to get used to the 5am wake up calls which attacked my dreams like air-raid sirens each morning, and the service culture is over developed to the point of being exasperating at times, but I think the good out weighs the bad in the long run.

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