A few of me being dumb

Istanbul, Turkey

Had a great time on the trip!!! I missed all of you over the holidays though!

I will eventually put my pictures on the web.

Istanbul, Turkey- more pics

From the top...

1st Picture: The crew: Brian, Adam, Anna, me

2nd Picture: New Years debauchery. My roommate Brian and I.

3rd Picture: Spice Bazaar

4th Picture: Sunset over Istanbul (Asian side).

5th Picture: Me at the palace overlooking the city

Istanbul, Turkey

We arrived in Istanbul late on the 29th of December. I realized very fast that the city is huge...about 14 million people! Our hostel was near the Blue Mosque, one of the more famous in the city. After settling in we met up with our other roommate Brian and his brother Adam. The area we stayed in was filled with hostels and bars.

The next morning we took a long tour of the city. We started with a cruise on the river, then saw one of the palaces and finally went to the Asian side to watch the sunset over Europe. It was an amazing view. The tour was a bit long, but really worth it.

The next day we wondered around the city, checking out the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar, which were incredible. I didn't buy anything, but it was amazing just to walk around and take it all in. I was surprised how friendly people were towards Americans. They were really nice, but probably because they wanted us to buy something.

That night was new years eve, which was nothing short of a shit show. We went to a pub near one of the main squares (taksim square). We drank many litres of beer and things got a bit blurry. Overall it was a great time. The next morning was a little painful, but we managed to spend the entire day walking around the city.

On Friday we headed to the airport...it was hard to leave after being away for two weeks, but I was happy to sleep in my own bed and have my own bathroom. The hostel in Istanbul was not clean, so don't ever stay at the Bahaus hostel!

Picture: Blue Mosque

Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

We left Zagreb early in the morning on the 26th. The train ride was about 10 hours to Sarajevo and almost everyone on the train was smoking. It was really hard to deal with that, but somehow we managed. After the long ride we were really happy to be in Sarajevo. No one really spoke English at the train station, so we figured out which tram to get on and took it to the center. Luckily, the driver spoke some English and told us where to get off. He was extremely nice! From that moment I knew I would like the city. We easily found our hostel in the center (Hostel City Center...aka the best hostel I have ever stayed at). Right away we felt welcome by the staff and all the people staying there. It was like staying in a ski chalet. That night we hung out with a bunch of people staying at the hostel.

The next morning we took a tour of the city with a local who lived through the siege. It was great to hear about the history of the city and the recent conflict. I had a lot of questions for him, but he had a hard time talking about it. It is extremely sad how the Serbians came in and destroyed their city and killed hundreds of thousands of people. I don't understand how no one helped these people...not the U.S., other European nations or the U.N. I never thought much about it until I saw it with my own eyes. If you don't know much about it, a great movie to watch is "Welcome to Sarajevo." Its amazing to see a city that has buildings (to this day) that have been blown up. They have reconstructed most of the city, but some still remain. There are still mines in parts of the city too, but mostly outside the city in the woods.

At this point we learned that it would be impossible to take a train/bus to Sofia, Bulgaria (our next stop). We would have to go through Belgrade, Serbia first then to Sofia and finally on to Istanbul. Apparently this takes about 30 hours by train/bus, so we decided to stay an extra night in Sarajevo and fly directly to Istanbul. I was glad we stayed because the city is so great. We ended up going out with a bunch of people from the hostel that night and had a great time. It was sad to leave Sarajevo, but I will return there one day!! Not the most beautiful city in terms of sites, but one of my favorite cities for sure. Its unbelievable how nice people are and how upbeat they are after going through such a hard war in the 90's. I highly recommend going there!!

Picture: Old part of town. The city has an Arab influence, which is about 75% Muslim (I think).

Zagreb, Croatia

After a short train ride we arrived in Zagreb early on Christmas day. It was kind of a let down after being in the vibrant city of Ljubljana. After making our way to the hostel we went out to get some food and check out the city. The weather was really nasty and the city was dead! There was absolutely nothing open. We walked around for a while on one of the main streets (pictured) which was really beautiful. Finally some places started to open. We spent most of the day wondering around the small city, but were glad that we were only staying one night. I'm glad I saw the city, but wish I went there on a different day. I'm sure Christmas had something to do with how dead the city was, but some people made their way out in the evening.

Picture: one of the main streets in Zagreb (Christmas day)

Ljubljana, Slovenia

I stopped updating my blog after the first Ljubljana post. But now I am looking back at my trip and have decided to finish it.

Ljubljana was truly an amazing city. I would definitely have to say one of my favorites to date. I recommend going there in December...It was something I have never experienced before. You can see in the photo how bright all the buildings were. It was great to walk around drinking hot wine and taking it all in. That night I tried a horse burger. It wasn't all that good, but I'm glad I tried it. Horse meat is supposed to be good, so I will give it another shot sometime. I can't wait to share all of my pictures of Slovenia with you. It was hard to leave this place!

picture: Downtown/river at night...Christmas eve