Gallivanting Around Istanbul

My first official weekend in Istanbul was full of spontaneous choices and the unexpected.

There is a huge mountain behind the University where I live, and of course I wanted to climb it. I saw someone's pictures from the top of the mountain and knew it was possible. So, Saturday morning my roommate and I made plans to hike the mountain. I invited a new friend of mine because he is Turkish and I thought he would know where the path was to hike the mountain. But nope, none of us really knew where it was. We started walking on this path (which was marked by a sign that said beware of the dogs) and followed it a long way. Then we got to a paved area and at the bottom of the "road" there were a bunch of German Shepards.  Apparently, these dogs are the ones that are dangerous. Cool. We keep walking and hope they don't bother us. It was totally worth it because the view from the top was awesome :) I was dissapointed that it was kind of impossible to climb all they way to the Turkish flags and Ataturk's enormous picture, but I still had fun.

View from the top of the mountain--Yeditepe University (where I live) is off to the right

The huge banner of Ataturk--the founder of modern day Turkey

Saturday, my roommate and I had plans to meet our professor for dinner. We had to take a cab, which was one crazy ride. When we finally made it, we headed to an area of Istanbul called Kadikoy for dinner. I loveeee Kadikoy--it was kind of like a really intense Strip District--we even saw a kiddie-pool with fish in it that you could buy to eat (aka extremely fresh). We ate at an awesome place with our professor and two of her friends who are trying to improve their English. The food was amazing and I had an olive salad (yesssss). After dinner we got Turkish coffee which is nothing like American coffee but it is still wonderful!

We left Kadikoy and went out on the town with our professor's friends. They took us go-kart racing. It was awesome. I think I signed a waiver before driving. Anyone who drove had to wear a really intense/enormous helmet and an orange thing that was supposed to cover your nose and mouth. There was no power steering, so it was a work out. And one time my foot got stuck underneath the brake pedal, which resulted in a pile-up (the only one I caused). Of course I won and had the fastest time of all time (just like on jet-skis).

Those weird orange things we had to wear

Ready to race wooo! (it's blurry because it was unbelievably foggy)

After go-kart racing, we went to hear some live music. The first girl who played was amazing and she did fantastic covers of late 90's contemporary chick music. I do not understand how she does not have a record deal. She was literally perfect. After her, things kind of picked up. The band was ridiculously energetic. They played mostly American music, including a "Serenade" by Steve Miller Band. It was awesome--everyone there was singing "Wake-up, wake up!" the whole time. I lovedddd it :) 

 Sunday, I went on a cruise of the Bosphorus. I took a bunch of videos and as I "panned" across the Bosphorus, I said, "Asia....Europe" and it was awesome. Two continents at once. It still boggles my mind. I also had lunch at a cafe in Kadikoy that has a huge hot air balloon. Apparently it goes straight up and down, but doesn't fly around anymore because a few years back some people died on it. Don't worry, I didn't go on the hot air balloon.

Europe.......................Asia

Overall, it was an amazing weekend. I got to see so many different things--I love living in Istanbul :)