andiamo in ASIA

The title is in Italian because there is an Italian ragazzo staying at the hostel and he has been speaking Italian with me, so I have been on an Italian kick and all I want to do is speak Italian. Maybe I should weekend it to Italy....hmm

So, what did I do today? I went to Asia. Just hopped right on over. It was awesome and exotic and oriental and asian...okay, not really... but I enjoyed my little trip across the Bosphorus. The ferry was great and provided a beautiful view of the city - every side. I like boats, so the ferry ride was great. I didn't exactly know where I was going when I got to Asia. I knew I was getting off at Kadikoy, which is a neighborhood on the Asian side with lots of bars, stores, and restaurants. A miniature taksim. The rest of the Asian side is just residential, unless you go up north towards the black sea where you find a few castles and some cute fishing villages. They're on my list. Anyways, so I started my tour of Asia by picking a street and wandering. Who knew where it would take me. My only goal in this trip was to walk around and check it out. See what's up in Anatolia. I started seeing all of the bars and narghile cafes. It is also similar to the Grand Bazaar because there is a street designated for everything - apparel, shoes, books. Books are nice, but I don't speak Turkish. Clothes are cool too, but I didn't feel like spending much money. Then, the greatest store ever found me. It was fate. A junk/antique store. Something out of TLC's hoarders show. There was a wall of old cameras, piles of old, leather bags, silver dishes, coins, watches, and a wall of old jewelry. Jackpot. I spent a good while thumbing through the tangled chains. I found quite a few and asked the man how much they are - ne kadar? They were a little more than I was expecting, so I didn't get all of them. Just my favorites. I would have liked to have spent all day rummaging through everything, but I had to be back by 4 to work. I was hungry so I stopped at a place to eat - Lamacun and mercemek corbasi (turkish pizza and lentil soup!) Back to Europe I go. Another ferry ride? Yay! It was actually cloudy today and perfect weather for a boat ride, breezy and misty. It's amazing how coordinated the traffic in this area of the Bosphorus is. There are so many boats passing through in every possible direction. Small sail boats and outrageously large freighters. But we made it back to Europe unscathed. I was surprisingly exhausted. I walked a lot but it was nothing compared to some days.
And now I am working again. It was a lovely day in Asia.