To Asia and Back

I'm not sure why I find this so surprising, but I had a really good day today.

I didn't get out of my pjs until about 2pm, but I enjoyed my morning and then when went through the sort of painful process of repacking. Between the mess my suitcase was and the hotel moving my things to another room (without me knowing or putting things away first), it took awhile, but at least it's done. 

I got ready and decided that I would go to the Asian side of Istanbul. I found plenty of tours that went by it, but none that actually stopped on that side, so I took the ferry that a lot of Turks take to and from work. 

On my way, I got A LOT of bird crap all over me. I was half way to the port and didn't know what to do. The front, back, and right side of my shirt looked like I was in a white paint fight. I had it on my hands...urgh! 

I just stood there and laughed. I didn't know what else to do! A restaurant owner saw me and made signs to come in and wash my hands. When I saw the state of everything, I decided I needed to take my shirt off and hand wash it. Luckily it was a darkish color, so once I rung it out, no one could tell it was wet. It was also really sunny, so it dried by the time I got to the ferry. 

I saw a girl carrying a Starbucks drink, and I decided that my getting crapped on warranted an iced coffee. 

I heard a lady scream (hello, mega overreacting!) and saw that a cat had wandered in. There are cats everywhere here!

He waited where the drinks are picked up, and I thought he was staring at me because he liked me (yes, I'm one of those weird people), but he was staring at my simit (the local bread/pretzel/bagel) I had bought on the way. I'm not sure if its good for cats to eat, but seeing he lives on the street, I figured it couldn't hurt (except annoying all the non-cat fans  that wanted him out). 

And then became the complicated process of finding the correct ferry and purchasing the tickets. After help (sort of) from this guy AND trying the process twice, I finally figured out that the tiny coin was the ticket. Durgh!! 

The ferry ride was about twenty minutes. 

When I got there, there were NO tourists and even weirder, no annoying guys trying to sell tourists some kind of tour. Finally after walking around, I went to a floating restaurant and bought an ice cream and turnip juice. Wow. Also on he menu was pickle juice. I should have stuck with pickle juice. This stuff was freaking disgusting. 

I googled, I read my guide, but couldn't find anything to do, and wasn't sure when the last ferry was, so I headed back. 

I didn't catch it on camera, but once I got to the European side again, I saw about 7 little wet boys being chased by an older man with a broom. It was like a scene from a movie. I'm thinking they went swimming in one if the fountains. It was cute to watch the boys scramble to get the rest if their shoes/clothes/bags while being chased. 

I tried a few self portraits, but I'm seriously losing my touch!

I went for supper at a place nearby my hotel. 

Ordered a Turkish pizza (don't have a clue what it is, but it tastes good) and some kind of local drink that was the third grossest thing I've tried in Istanbul. 

And now, it's bedtime. It's nearly 10pm, and I have to get up at 3am tomorrow for my 6am flight. At least I'll be able to sleep  on the flight!