It is now the end of my first of two days in Istanbul. After my frustrating trip here, I phoned the hostel and they sent a shuttle driver to find me. I shared the "shuttle" (a VW Jetta) with a Swiss girl, Giuliana, who was half American and half Italian and was in Istanbul for a wedding. I arrived at my hostel, settled in, and then ventured out to see the city. My first stop was the Blue Mosque. There I started talking to Wendy, a native New Yorker who now lives in D.C. We got along so well! She was in Istanbul to celebrate her 30th birthday. It was about 6:00 by the time we met, so we grabbed a kabob, and walked around to check out the city. One store, not far from where we were staying had some really nice jewelry that Wendy was interested in. The typically pushy shop owner finally convinced her to try a necklace on (by basically putting it on her himself.) "It shows off your tits," the old man told her. "And you have nice tits." I was rolling on the floor laughing. Interesting sales pitch.
We looked around a few more shops before calling it a night and agreeing to meet the next morning for a bus tour. I retired to my room and spent an hour or two conversing with my roommates Jo and Ellie (from England) and Gonoula (from Germany) and getting to show off my impressive German skills!
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