Istanbul day 2 - carpet dealers, Hamami and scaling the turkish castle.

What a great second day! Yesterday I took a boat tour up the Bosphorus with Nathan and Han who I met in my hostel. And in the evening we went for a Turkish bath and massage with some Japanese friends Hiro and Shoto. And we finished the day by getting piss drunk and eating at the home of Omar a Turkish rug dealer in Istanbul.

So first Bosphorus tour. We docked at a castle at the tip of the Bosphorus connecting to the Black Sea. The castle had no safety measures and literally you can climb up to the ledge and fall down hundreds of feet below to the water. There was one security guard there but he really didn't care a lot. No where was this more exemplified than when I asked him if I can climb the actual castle itself. He told me go ahead. I think he didn't really think I was going to do it since it was quite steep. But once I actually got started climbing he started to get worried. Needless to say I got to the top in one piece and had an awestruck audience down below. My friends Nathan and Han soon followed suit and we got treated to an amazing view of the surrounding area.

After the Bosphorus tour we were going to meet up with Shota (computer engineer) and Hiro (Archaeologist specializing in Byzantine art). They are actually not connected in any way other than the fact that they both know Omar who is an Turkish carpet dealer in Istanbul. The story is quite long to explain but we all met at Omar's shop. Omar can speak fluent Japanese even though he is Turkish. Together we went to the local Hamimi which is a Turkish spa. I got rubbed down by a 50 year old hairy Turkish man with soap scrubs and suds! Haha it was definitely an experience! The only massage experience I have to compare is the Thai massage I got in Thailand and its a totally different massage. For one this was is less painful and two it was less of a massage but more of a skin scrubbing by the hairy Turkish man.

After you come out of the spa they wrap you in towels and you sit around in a lounge sipping on Turkish coffee and water.

Finally after the spa Omar graciously invited us to his home and cooked for us. There was some really good conversations between our multicultural contingent of Turkey, Canada, England, Singapore and Japan.

We finally wrapped up the night and headed back to our hostels having found new homes in each others countries 

Me Han and Nathan. 

Fried clams and rice stuffed clams. 

Climbing down from the castle 

After the spa scrub down

Me, Han, Nathan, Hiro, Shota

Omar our gracious host who can speak perfect English, Japanese and Turk

So there is very little safety measures in Turkey. We visited this castle and there was only a cord sectioning off the castle and the sea. I noticed a section of the wall where it seems climeable. Of course I had to go for it, it actually wasn't too difficult. I would have never done this if I wasn't 100% sure I was capable. So no risks here :D 

I had an awesome time with these guys. You can see the bridge they are trying to build in the background. Also after the bridge it turns into the Black sea. Prior to that it is still the Bosphorus. 

Bosphorus which is a huge rive imo. 

Nathan and Han followed me up, but from the other side where it was less steep. 

Peace from Istanbul.

Istanbul day 1

So today is the first day of exploring in Turkey and what a great start!

For one the weather is amazing! The sun was out in full force and it really makes the whole experience 10x more enjoyable.

I left my hostel today early in the morning after a filling free Turkish breakfast. I checked out the surrounding attractions Topikia palace museum, the Blue Mosque and the grand Bazaar. In the evening I walked across a huge bridge to check out the Galata, and the surrounding fish markets.

I also met some really cool travelers at my hostel and we are planning to check out the Hagia Sophia tomorrow together.

Topkapi Palace entrance

Hagia Sophia

Blue Mosque

Muslims washing before prayer

View from Europe side over the Bosphorus into Asia

Grand Bazar

View into Asia

Galata Tower

Peace from Istanbul.

Mutzig fortress and Skiing

So February and March vacation has started. And I have been busy going skiing and checking out nearby attractions.

For skiing there is a nearby mountain just 20 minutes by car from me. I have already been up twice already with my school and last week I went with my friend Scott and made a day out of it. The conditions were perfect as it just recently snowed and we had fresh powder to play on.

Yesterday I went and checked out the Mutzig fortress close to Strasbourg. We didn't have a car and the fortress was inaccessible by bus. Luckily for us the tour guide Noemi actually came and picked us up at the train station.

The fortress was built during WWI by the Germans and is very impressive even today. It's tunnels and vast underground system of chambers were really unique and definitely something everyone should check out in the Alsace area. Also the guide was really well versed in the historical aspects of the fort and I learned many things about the French and German relations.

I was so impressed with the fort and the tour that I actually wrote a review as promised to our guide on the trip advisor website.

Peace from Guebwiller.

The sleeping quaters of the fort, the beds actually recline and turn into a sofa. WWI Ikea haha. 

Radio transmitter for communications 

Batteries built into the ground for defense. 

The mountain is quite small, but the rolling fog in the distance makes it seem much bigger. 

Istanbul + Bucharest soon!

I was researching the flight options for my Feburary vacation and I bought my tickets today.

So I will be going to Istanbul Feb 25-March 2 then Bucharest March 2-4. Honestly Bucharest is kind of an addition at the last minute because of the cheap flights. Flying from Bucharest back to my airport Basel is about 1 hour and 1/2 and it cost only 24Euros or about $35!!!

The total for the trip was just about $200 Canadian and it's ridiculous if you think about how much flight time is involved for such a cheap price! And I don't even live near one of the big budget airports like Paris or London.

Istanbul was my preferred destination near Europe because it is on the boarder of East and West and I kind of wanted to get out of Europe to check out other places. Once you are here for a while everything kind of begins to look the same. In terms of architecture, food and language. So I am really excited for Istanbul! And Bucharest although  is not a big city on my to do's list does have some really cool castles close to it that I think I will check out for day trips.

That's it for now.

Peace from Guebwiller.

Training at European Parliament

This past week, all the assistants in the Alsace region had our second annual training at the European parliament. 

And to be honest, these training session are pretty useless. For one they only last a day and the organizers are anything but organised. But nonetheless it was pretty cool to get a free tour of the parliament. 

Peace from Guebwiller.