I went up to breakfast and met a few of the people I'd been next to at the pub quiz the night before. There were, however, no kiwis in sight. Instead I decided to go to Asia with Australian Tom, another Australian, and British Becca. As we waited to leave, we were joined by an American called Ben.
We took the metro from Taxim then got out one stop early by accident and walked 20 mins to another station, then caught the train under the river to Üsküdar. Once there Tom, the other Australian, and I got an intestine, offal and spice sandwich, which was pretty decent. We wondered around for a bit, going to a couple of markets. After visiting a park and climbing through a hollow tree we caught a bus to the Kadikoy area. On the bus Tom and I got talking to a local who recommended us some food etc. When I told him I’d cycled there he got very impressed and insisted on adding me on insta. He’s a cyclist too, and has a much nicer bike. I don’t envy him cycling in this city.
We wondered there for a while, then down into Moda – both very cool, hip neighbourhoods full of art and coffee shops etc. In Moda we stopped for some juice and the Australian left for a sunset cruise. We went down to Moda pier upon which there is a library and from which you can get a great view of the Bosphorus and the city. We went back to Kadikoy, through a cheap shoe market where I was on the verge of buying some cheap trainers, but didn’t. I would regret this later.
We caught a ferry over the river, which was a beautiful experience. We spent a while waiting for the bus and were joined by a couple other people from the hostel. Eventually we gave up and Becca and I walked to the metro past the Galata tower while the others got a taxi.
It was a great day of exploring the city and having deep convos with people which would continue into the night. After doing some more packing I went up to the bar. There was no-one I recognised, however I sat with some new people – Forest from Canada, Anne from the Netherlands, a Kiwi girl and a few others. We all ended up going for dinner together and waiting for Michael from Germany to join us.
We went to a spenny place and I got a cheap option of a pizza base covered in mince meat. It was okay. The meal was great however. I chatted with Anne most of the time and after midnight we sang happy birthday to her and the Kiwi, who’s birthdays it was.
We got some free ice cream and lots of kinefe for dessert (it was however the worst kinefe I’ve ever had). Me and Michael ended up finishing off most of it. Back at the hostel a few of us didn’t want the night to end so we bought some beers around the corner and headed up to Forest’s room. He had a balcony!
We sat half in, half out of the room, on the balcony, and chatted for hours, even restocking on beer at some point. Anne told us her experience of having sex on the walls of Dubrovnik. We talked about insecurities and not fitting in – Forest and Michael are both mixed race – it was interesting to hear. I got talking about C and about relationships. I came out with some stuff which they all seemed impressed with. Anne said she could tell I was/had been in love. That’s good to know.
We played never have I ever, etc. It was a great night. I hope I’ll remember it for a while. Around 4:30 I finally got off to bed. I hope my room didn’t mind too much.
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