#asiaside

Yesterday we started around 12pm becasue we were hung over from the previous night and first we set off for lunch: kebabs, tomatoes, cucumbers, yogurt, and tomato sauce :D Then we went to the Spice Bazaar and met Orcun and his friend Charlie who was really nice. We were in another square which is beyond me but we ran into men washing their hands and their feet before entering the mosque which I had only seen on T.V. or documentaries so it was cool to see it firsthand. I love the culture here. There's something so beautiful and special here! I just wish we didn't stick out so much as Americans but what can we do? The five of us took a ferry to the Asia side of Istanbul. When we got there we took a walk along the ocean with rocks to our right and a nice park area to our left. People seem to know how to relax on this side more. We talked for a while and then got ice cream where we tried to order in Turkish which we're trying to learn day by day, at least a little. We walked through the center, bought a mussel on street and took the ferry back. We walked along the major streets to Orkyou, one of the neighborhoods I saw on the map and we all got a Kumpir, a potato filled with different things like sausages, carrots, olives, yogurt...Then we took a taxi to Taksim and let out Charlie. We went to another water pipe place called Ali Baba. They had a whole arrangement of fruit on the table if you wanted to buy them and we got a water pipe to share. It was so relaxing! We walked through the major strip in Taksim and Elizabeth and I went back to our hostel.