Free food and fabulous music!

So its been a few days since I last blogged. I got a little distracted in Istanbul. We had an amazing time. We spent the entire time with the two brazillians and these nice australian girls we met. We were all staying in the same hostel. Raphael was, possibly, the funniest person I've ever met. He just kept crazking jokes and having some great interjections. It was great to hear a lot about Brazil and their travels. Also, the Australian girls were wonderful. They were very nice and had some interesting perspectives on things. We were 3 couples learning about eachother's lives. Its one of the great things abotu travelling. We also saw the city together. We went to Hagia Sophia, of course. I couldn't wait to get there. we went to the blue mosque and to a great archeologie museum. We were talking so much and having such a grteat time that we werne't moving through the city too quickly. We took a boat ride and had some good turkish meals. Turkish food is wonderful.

I loved Istanbul, evenhtough we didn't see all of it. It was beautiful. The weather couldn't have been better. We went to the grand bazaar and bought some gifts for people. I also bought too much for myself....

Now we are about to leave Greece. We went to Thessoliniki via an overnight train. That was another great experience. I love trains in general, but we had a private coupe and our tickets were hand written. They had passport control at about one in the morning. We were so confused because they also came through and searched our bags. I guess i"ve always stayed in the EU so they don't really have customs and they usually take your passport for the night. We went through passport control in Turkey and Greece. I'm excited though becasue I have a stamp from Greece!

I love Greece. We keep getting free food! also, they bring a glass of water with every meal. I realize this a simple concept in america, but after Georgia and Turkey, I was quite dehydrated. They just give you small glasses of juice and not enough water. In Greece we were greeted with a big glass of water and either chips or peanuts or somehting to go with our drinks. We even got big cookies with our coffee... Last night we were sitting at a cafe in Ionina and we just didn't even have to order dinner. They kept bringing food. I couldn't believe it.

Thessonliniki was great, except for the rain. We went to a local bar and met some great greek women. Big hair and love to dance. We also went to another archeologie museum... I'm learning a lot of history. I think I'll become a history buff when I get back. I'm learning about byzantine times and the ottomans and Alexander the Great is a large topic of conversation between Kate and I. We thought we were going to see his sarcophogus in Istanbul, but it turned out to be some sidonian king and just had pictures of Alexander the great on it. I was pretty pissed about it.

Greece has so much history and we see it everywhere. Well, everywhere but Igoumenitsa. Its a pretty dull town. Its where i am now. We are waiting for our ferrie to Italy that leaves tonight at 12... We've got some time to kill. It seems that internet cafes are pretty scarce in Greece and we finally found one. Luckily we aren't missing much. However, we are happy its finally sunny. It hasn't been suny since we arrived in Greece.

So I'll be in Italy soon! Sicily, Here I come!!