Istanbul, Not Constantinople

Day two of Istanbul...and I still love this place. If things keep up like this…Istanbul might end up being my favorite port city.

A recap of my day:

I woke up early for an SAS trip that was headed to the Prince’s Isles, a group of islands off the Turkish coast. We took a ferry over to the biggest island, where we got to take horse-drawn carriage tours around the entire thing. It was super pretty—kinda reminded me of a Caribbean island more than something you’d find in Turkey. We grabbed lunch, and I had a delicious (and cheap) lamb kebab. Turkish food is definitely right down my alley.

After we took the ferry back to Istanbul, I showered and met up with Carmella and Brianna. Then, since they hadn’t been yet, we headed to the Grand Bazaar.  Yessss. I’m estimating that at least 1/3 of the time I spend in Istanbul will be at the Bazaar...which I definitely don’t mind.

I’m not sure if it was because I was freshly showered and looking in tip-top shape or if the clerks were desperate at the end of a long day, but every clerk that we passed went out of their way to get our attention and get us into their shop. As aggressive as I’d thought the clerks were yesterday when I came with my class, they were ten times more aggressive when it was just us three girls.

As soon as we walked into the Bazaar, a guy (who, might I add, was actually really cute) walked up to me and said, ‘Didn’t I see you last night?’…Since I’d been there the day before, I figured maybe I’d come by his shop and he remembered me. So in my usual, witty fashion, I stammered out an, ‘Er, umm…maybe?’ He looked at me intensely as he nodded and said, ‘Oh yes. I definitely saw you last night…I think you were in my dreams.’…Oy vey. Should have seen that one coming. I guess crappy one-liners aren't exclusive to sketchy American guys. Good to know.

We spent the rest of our time in the Bazaar hearing a variety of different things...all along the lines of:

‘Where are you from? America?...American girls are my favorite!’

‘Omg! Are you the Charlie’s Angels?....because, if not, you can be MY angels!’

‘Where are you from? Canada?...Canadian girls are my favorite!’

‘Are you the Spice Girls?! You could definitely spice up MY life!’

…and the list goes on. We were pretty popular…along with every other girl in the bazaar.

After we’d been flattered enough, we headed to dinner…where I got lamb kebabs. Again. And they were delicious. Again. And then we headed back to the boat for an early night. Which is where I am now. My roomie’s gone for the night, so I’ve got the cabin to myself, which is a super rare occurrence. I’m gonna watch a movie and hit the sack...what can I say? I'm a party animal. 

Turkish bath in the morning! Should make for quite the story.