Day One

Worst. Arrival. Ever.

I won't go into details. It involved lots of climbing, nearly missing a flight and a locked bank account. Hello Istanbul.

Let's focus on the bright side of this first day. I was fed by strangers - TWICE that day. I must've seem very exhausted, because the two ladies on the plane happily shared their breakfast with me organizing paper cups and splitting their bread. And the two french guys feeding me honey and chocolate? Well, I was at my most attractive after climbing the steep hills of Cihangir and finally made it to the street and must've seemed quite confused while looking for the right house number. They kept insisting I should sit down and eat something with them, but I had to go, so I got bread with honey and chocolate. What a nice hello :)

After that I spent a total of five minutes in the apartment and was taken to a friend's place where we had a long breakfast on the roof top. Kinder Überraschung, scones, vegetables, omelette, tea and sunshine while admiring the view. So very peaceful. Then one of the flatmates had an extra ticket for the Istanbul film festival, so I did that as well, nearly fell asleep and got to know a cheap but very good turkish restaurant. Some catching up with people from Berlin I never thought of meeting here, no wonder I was dead tired after this very long day, but I LIKE IT HERE. This might not come as a surprise to anyone, but the minute I stepped out of the bus I noticed the people, the atmosphere, the dirty and not so dirty parts, the improvisations to make things work, the view, the buildings... it is still very romantic to me and soon I will probably realise how many things aren't that great. But for now I love my little I'M-SO-HAPPY-THAT-EVERYTHING-SEEMS-AWESOME-bubble.

Lesson #1: Never NEVER think a route that looks short on maps is actually short. Turning the wrong corner and thinking that the way on the map looks quite okay led to serious climbing - with my backpack. Wow, the hills are so steep!

Lesson #2: You can get tea everywhere. Me gusta.