Il ragazzo Sulla Vespa

12 days I have spent outside of Istanbul, traveling from the strange landscape of capadoccia to the slow bustle of Konya and onward along the mediterranean coast through beautiful natural ravines and over plummeting cliffsides. My eyes tell me it's unreal every day. Every day I seem to get more used to it, yet every day i find something more beautiful than the last. 12 days is 2 days longer than I had planned and I'm a few from the end. Starting with Goreme, I have stopped in 8 different towns of varying size and tradition. Each has had something or someone special to share with me. I can't possibly choose a favorite. Traveling alone was also part of my plan, being as I am here by myself. However, I was fortunate enough to have met Lorenzo in Istanbul, who was headed for the same trek as I was. I was even more fortunate to find that I enjoy traveling with him. I don't mind so much wandering alone into unknown places, but it is immensely better with someone else (especially when that someone is Italian). As is obvious from the title, his trusty Vepa carried him all the way to Turkey. How Italian. The vespa can't carry both of us between cites, so I have been busing it across turkey and meeting him at every stop. I would say I've just been using Lorenzo to practice Italian, but I would be lying. He has been very fun to travel with. He doesn't mind aimlessly wandering through endless amounts of ancient ruins and he love tukish tea as much as I do, (many days we have upwards of 7 cups) so I think I will stick around with him a few more days before he ventures back to Italy. Don't be surprised if i don't return home for the semester. Between the thought of staying in turkey and the temptation of hopping the big, blue pond to Italy, having to return to America honestly makes me sick.