Ahhh, finally back to the civilized world. To an apartment NEW! WITH ANTS!
We had a really excellent time away but, I’m still happy to be back even though that means work on Monday. In retrospect, both of us realized that we enjoyed both Athens and Istanbul much more than we expected: Athens and its ruins and culture after 3 days, didn’t really get boring at all and inspired me to read several Wikipedia history articles. Oh and food! Mmm! They have some great food! Istanbul was a little less “Western” but more than I expected with a “scene” and beauty and everyone being very friendly and able to speak English for the most part. (Also... food! Yum!) Even with the occasional guy selling post cards, shoe shine guys, the rug dealers, or the leather shop guy, getting really mad at you that you don’t want their services, it was enjoyable. Many were REALLY OFFENDED that you couldn’t stop and listen to there ONCE IN A LIFETIME GREAT SERVICE. Sorry buddy! C’est la vie ! Anyway, amazing amounts of history there.
I am having the time of my life right now on my couch, with no pressure to go out because the vacation clock is no longer ticking. You know, that voice “aiieee! We have to get out there! We’re missing life and stuff!” *tick tick tick tick* I’m also ecstatic that it’s Saturday night and I can sleep in tomorrow… no free (by free I mean “free”) breakfast to miss! I think Aimée and I are going to hit the outdoor market tomorrow which we haven’t been to in forever, to stock up on a few things.
We were a bit reluctant to do much shopping in Istanbul. There’s an unbelievable amount of stuff to look at and buy, but the sales guys are really aggressive and will rip you off gladly, and tell you that you just made a great purchase. It’s similar to how I felt at the Paris markets, but they are totally normal now.
I still have to get back to some more details about our experiences, but enjoy some more pictures in the meantime! A couple quick notes for perspective:
Drivers in Athens and especially in Istanbul are crazy. They make Parisian drivers seem like a Sunday afternoon in the park.
I don’t feel that in Paris there is a real concept known as “a line” or “waiting in line” but wow, in Athens it was every man for himself: 100 people trying to get on an escalator? No problem! Just cut right past about 100 people and try to get right in front of me as if I’m not even standing there! I did not let the guy in, on principal, of course and I hope he was pissed.
One last thing: remember, (as I don’t and that this is a typical post vacation thing which I hope will last longer than usual) take time to play tourist in whatever great city you live in! It’s so easy to get sucked into life and forget that where you live probably has a bunch of great things that you didn’t even know about.
À bientôt,
-Dennis
We had a really excellent time away but, I’m still happy to be back even though that means work on Monday. In retrospect, both of us realized that we enjoyed both Athens and Istanbul much more than we expected: Athens and its ruins and culture after 3 days, didn’t really get boring at all and inspired me to read several Wikipedia history articles. Oh and food! Mmm! They have some great food! Istanbul was a little less “Western” but more than I expected with a “scene” and beauty and everyone being very friendly and able to speak English for the most part. (Also... food! Yum!) Even with the occasional guy selling post cards, shoe shine guys, the rug dealers, or the leather shop guy, getting really mad at you that you don’t want their services, it was enjoyable. Many were REALLY OFFENDED that you couldn’t stop and listen to there ONCE IN A LIFETIME GREAT SERVICE. Sorry buddy! C’est la vie ! Anyway, amazing amounts of history there.
I am having the time of my life right now on my couch, with no pressure to go out because the vacation clock is no longer ticking. You know, that voice “aiieee! We have to get out there! We’re missing life and stuff!” *tick tick tick tick* I’m also ecstatic that it’s Saturday night and I can sleep in tomorrow… no free (by free I mean “free”) breakfast to miss! I think Aimée and I are going to hit the outdoor market tomorrow which we haven’t been to in forever, to stock up on a few things.
We were a bit reluctant to do much shopping in Istanbul. There’s an unbelievable amount of stuff to look at and buy, but the sales guys are really aggressive and will rip you off gladly, and tell you that you just made a great purchase. It’s similar to how I felt at the Paris markets, but they are totally normal now.
I still have to get back to some more details about our experiences, but enjoy some more pictures in the meantime! A couple quick notes for perspective:
Drivers in Athens and especially in Istanbul are crazy. They make Parisian drivers seem like a Sunday afternoon in the park.
I don’t feel that in Paris there is a real concept known as “a line” or “waiting in line” but wow, in Athens it was every man for himself: 100 people trying to get on an escalator? No problem! Just cut right past about 100 people and try to get right in front of me as if I’m not even standing there! I did not let the guy in, on principal, of course and I hope he was pissed.
One last thing: remember, (as I don’t and that this is a typical post vacation thing which I hope will last longer than usual) take time to play tourist in whatever great city you live in! It’s so easy to get sucked into life and forget that where you live probably has a bunch of great things that you didn’t even know about.
À bientôt,
-Dennis
See our photos on Flickr!
About me
- I'm off2paris
- From Paris, France
- off2paris at wonky point org
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