Turkey + Serbia + Montenegro + Croatia + Rome
Istanbul, Turkey
The few of you who used to read tracy_trolls may remember Teh Turk. Good friend of mine from Portugal, returned to Turkey about a year ago to do his mandatory military service and only recently got out. Terrible English. I went to visit him for a couple of weeks and we had some amazing conversations about pee.
Turk: *puts on a damp coat* (It had been raining for the couple of days beforehand.)
Me: Your coat is still damp.
Turk: Dam..?
Me: Yeah, with a 'p' on the end.
Turk: *looks down at himself* Where is the pee?
Me: ...*dies of lulz*
Me: I need to pee.
Turk: Maybe we can put pee at Starbucks.
Me: ...*dies of lulz*
His English is way better than average in Turkey; all his friends think it's perfect. :P
Istanbul! Took this pic from the plane:
The weather forecast was "cum showers".
They sell cans of air.
There's an Aston Martin store next to the building the Brazilian embassy is in. (I had to apply for my visa to Brazil.)
A PINK IMPALA which I fangirled all over and got weird looks for:
Mosques all over the place:
And... turnip water!
Princes' Island, Turkey
I took tons of pictures of seagulls on the ferry ride over.
We rented bikes, rode around the island, fed stray cats, and saw some cool scenery.
Cappadocia, Turkey
We rented a car and drove around.
This was my favorite place in Turkey. It's so so so different and beautiful.
And phallic. Mostly phallic.
That's me in between the two giant penises. It was a lovely place to be.
More cool pics:
I tried to take a panoramic pic but failed because I haen't figured it out yet. Pffft. Here's one part of it:
Turkey in Turkey! Yes, I am that lame.
Also went horseback riding.
Konya, Turkey
We only stopped here because it was too long of a bus ride straight from Cappadocia to Pamukkale and I get motion sick on really long bus rides. Not a whole lot going on in this city but we met up with Teh Turk's brother and friends and had a good time.
Pamukkale, Turkey
Another gorgeous place. The white stuff that looks like snow is actually rock. But not salty, I tasted it. :P
I got into the water in my jeans, as usual.
There's also an antique pool.
Izmir, Turkey
Teh Turk went to university here, so he showed me around a bit. Then we sat by the water at night drinking wine and listening to other drunk Turks singing awful songs. Fun times.
Also hung out with some of his friends. And one of their mothers. The mother spoke almost no English but was excitable and loved me to bits, hah. Went ice skating in a mall too. I used to ice skate quite a bit when I was younger but it was Teh Turk's second time and it was predictably hilarious. XD
Then back to Istanbul for a day where I had my requisite Turkish bath experience. It was so relaxing we missed our flight to Serbia. Go Turkish baths!
Nis, Serbia
Immigration gave Teh Turk a hard time but we made it to Serbia the morning after we were originally supposed to be there and met up with another good friend from Portugal who showed us around her hometown, Nis. Not too exciting but pretty enough.
Mostly it was just good to see them again; the three of us were really close and hadn't all hung out together in over a year. Plus the bar in Nis made the best Sex on the Beach I've had since leaving the US. \o/
Went swimming in an olympic sized pool and Teh Turk had to buy a speedo beforehand. He was hilariously embarrassed by it and said it made him look like a "hot chick" lolol. The Serbian girl and I tried to wear him out (we're both better swimmers and I once beat him by at least 15 minutes in a race to some island) but he managed to keep up lap after lap even though he was clearly dying. A year ago it would've been easy to make him give up but a year of military service toughens a guy up; he said later he'd planned on swimming until he fainted. :P
Kotor, Montenegro
Teh Turk and I only went to Montenegro because it was the cheapest way to get from Nis to Croatia. Immigration gave him a hard time here too. I had never known less about a country before arriving there before, and most of the time we had little idea of where we were going or what we would do once we got there. But we took a bus ride which went through the mountains and it ended up being the most beautiful bus ride I've ever been on.
Arrived in Kotor.
We met some random guy at the bus station in Kotor who gave us the impression he would show us to a cheap hotel. We ended up in a room in his home. But he was hilarious and had a cool dog and for some reason I inherently trust people with cool dogs so it turned out well. He even had a view.
Then we hiked up to the top of the fortress and got more amazing views of the city.
Met a couple of donkeys on the way and almost got charged by this mountain goat or whatever it is:
It started raining pretty hard while we were sitting by the water later and I love rain so I stayed and got drenched. Teh Turk was cold and miserable but stayed and got drenched anyway. Hahahaha.
Herceg Novi, Montenegro
After Kotor we moved on to Herceg Novi. Also not so shabby.
We'd planned to go for a swim but for various reasons it was like 5 pm before we made it down to the water. Which was fucking freezing.
Me: Still want to go for a swim?
Turk: You decide and I will follow.
Me: Fine. *gets into the water*
Turk: *stands there shivering for a while with water up to his shins before turning back to the shore*
Guess military service didn't toughen him up that much after all. Never trust men. Once I got over how numbingly cold the water was I had a lovely swim out to some rocks in the water which provided an amazing view of the surrounding mountains. Stayed in the water for so long I think I got mild hypothermia and it took forever to stop shaking after I got out. Oops. But did I mention the amazing view?
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Predictably, immigration gave Teh Turk a hard time. :P Really wish we'd been able to stay longer here.
Srsly isn't it gorgeous?
Out of all the countries I've been to so far Croatia is the one I want to return to most. I was looking at pictures and there's so much we didn't get to see or do -- sheer mountains right up to the sea, snow, waterfalls, rafting, kayaking, hang gliding, horseback riding, etc. etc. Next time, eh?
Took an overnight ferry from Dubrovnik to Italy. Had to part ways with Teh Turk 'cause he doesn't have a visa for the EU. Dubrovnik port at night:
Rome
Rome will never not be awesome. Last year I visited during my Eurotrip and ended up sleeping at Termini train station on platform 1 with the bums and the bugs. This year I got put up in a 5 star hotel with the GISHWHES winners. How I've moved up in life. XD
GISHWHES dinner:
Spent the next day hanging out with the GISHWHES winners at the Colosseum and Foro Romano, then went to the cocktail party at the con that evening to see some friends. Also Misha.
Got excessively drunk afterward and apparently said things I totally don't remember saying. Oops.
Spent the next few days meeting up with various friends, hanging out with the GISHWHES folks some more, squealing over Cas spoilers, walking around the city, and generally chilling out.
Saw the Trevi Fountain and Colosseum at night too, which was a first. Very pretty! I love sitting outside for dinner in the evening next to these places, sipping wine and living it up in Rome. ♥
Back in Lisbon now! :D I have a day-long layover here, saw some friends, had some drinks, headed to South America in a few hours to spend 5 or so weeks traveling around the continent with a good friend (a.k.a. Brazilian1 in my Eurotrip posts). Life is good. Except for the part where I have a 10 hour flight tomorrow. Oh well.
The few of you who used to read tracy_trolls may remember Teh Turk. Good friend of mine from Portugal, returned to Turkey about a year ago to do his mandatory military service and only recently got out. Terrible English. I went to visit him for a couple of weeks and we had some amazing conversations about pee.
Turk: *puts on a damp coat* (It had been raining for the couple of days beforehand.)
Me: Your coat is still damp.
Turk: Dam..?
Me: Yeah, with a 'p' on the end.
Turk: *looks down at himself* Where is the pee?
Me: ...*dies of lulz*
Me: I need to pee.
Turk: Maybe we can put pee at Starbucks.
Me: ...*dies of lulz*
His English is way better than average in Turkey; all his friends think it's perfect. :P
Istanbul! Took this pic from the plane:
The weather forecast was "cum showers".
They sell cans of air.
There's an Aston Martin store next to the building the Brazilian embassy is in. (I had to apply for my visa to Brazil.)
A PINK IMPALA which I fangirled all over and got weird looks for:
Mosques all over the place:
And... turnip water!
Princes' Island, Turkey
I took tons of pictures of seagulls on the ferry ride over.
We rented bikes, rode around the island, fed stray cats, and saw some cool scenery.
Cappadocia, Turkey
We rented a car and drove around.
This was my favorite place in Turkey. It's so so so different and beautiful.
And phallic. Mostly phallic.
That's me in between the two giant penises. It was a lovely place to be.
More cool pics:
I tried to take a panoramic pic but failed because I haen't figured it out yet. Pffft. Here's one part of it:
Turkey in Turkey! Yes, I am that lame.
Also went horseback riding.
Konya, Turkey
We only stopped here because it was too long of a bus ride straight from Cappadocia to Pamukkale and I get motion sick on really long bus rides. Not a whole lot going on in this city but we met up with Teh Turk's brother and friends and had a good time.
Pamukkale, Turkey
Another gorgeous place. The white stuff that looks like snow is actually rock. But not salty, I tasted it. :P
I got into the water in my jeans, as usual.
There's also an antique pool.
Izmir, Turkey
Teh Turk went to university here, so he showed me around a bit. Then we sat by the water at night drinking wine and listening to other drunk Turks singing awful songs. Fun times.
Also hung out with some of his friends. And one of their mothers. The mother spoke almost no English but was excitable and loved me to bits, hah. Went ice skating in a mall too. I used to ice skate quite a bit when I was younger but it was Teh Turk's second time and it was predictably hilarious. XD
Then back to Istanbul for a day where I had my requisite Turkish bath experience. It was so relaxing we missed our flight to Serbia. Go Turkish baths!
Nis, Serbia
Immigration gave Teh Turk a hard time but we made it to Serbia the morning after we were originally supposed to be there and met up with another good friend from Portugal who showed us around her hometown, Nis. Not too exciting but pretty enough.
Mostly it was just good to see them again; the three of us were really close and hadn't all hung out together in over a year. Plus the bar in Nis made the best Sex on the Beach I've had since leaving the US. \o/
Went swimming in an olympic sized pool and Teh Turk had to buy a speedo beforehand. He was hilariously embarrassed by it and said it made him look like a "hot chick" lolol. The Serbian girl and I tried to wear him out (we're both better swimmers and I once beat him by at least 15 minutes in a race to some island) but he managed to keep up lap after lap even though he was clearly dying. A year ago it would've been easy to make him give up but a year of military service toughens a guy up; he said later he'd planned on swimming until he fainted. :P
Kotor, Montenegro
Teh Turk and I only went to Montenegro because it was the cheapest way to get from Nis to Croatia. Immigration gave him a hard time here too. I had never known less about a country before arriving there before, and most of the time we had little idea of where we were going or what we would do once we got there. But we took a bus ride which went through the mountains and it ended up being the most beautiful bus ride I've ever been on.
Arrived in Kotor.
We met some random guy at the bus station in Kotor who gave us the impression he would show us to a cheap hotel. We ended up in a room in his home. But he was hilarious and had a cool dog and for some reason I inherently trust people with cool dogs so it turned out well. He even had a view.
Then we hiked up to the top of the fortress and got more amazing views of the city.
Met a couple of donkeys on the way and almost got charged by this mountain goat or whatever it is:
It started raining pretty hard while we were sitting by the water later and I love rain so I stayed and got drenched. Teh Turk was cold and miserable but stayed and got drenched anyway. Hahahaha.
Herceg Novi, Montenegro
After Kotor we moved on to Herceg Novi. Also not so shabby.
We'd planned to go for a swim but for various reasons it was like 5 pm before we made it down to the water. Which was fucking freezing.
Me: Still want to go for a swim?
Turk: You decide and I will follow.
Me: Fine. *gets into the water*
Turk: *stands there shivering for a while with water up to his shins before turning back to the shore*
Guess military service didn't toughen him up that much after all. Never trust men. Once I got over how numbingly cold the water was I had a lovely swim out to some rocks in the water which provided an amazing view of the surrounding mountains. Stayed in the water for so long I think I got mild hypothermia and it took forever to stop shaking after I got out. Oops. But did I mention the amazing view?
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Predictably, immigration gave Teh Turk a hard time. :P Really wish we'd been able to stay longer here.
Srsly isn't it gorgeous?
Out of all the countries I've been to so far Croatia is the one I want to return to most. I was looking at pictures and there's so much we didn't get to see or do -- sheer mountains right up to the sea, snow, waterfalls, rafting, kayaking, hang gliding, horseback riding, etc. etc. Next time, eh?
Took an overnight ferry from Dubrovnik to Italy. Had to part ways with Teh Turk 'cause he doesn't have a visa for the EU. Dubrovnik port at night:
Rome
Rome will never not be awesome. Last year I visited during my Eurotrip and ended up sleeping at Termini train station on platform 1 with the bums and the bugs. This year I got put up in a 5 star hotel with the GISHWHES winners. How I've moved up in life. XD
GISHWHES dinner:
Spent the next day hanging out with the GISHWHES winners at the Colosseum and Foro Romano, then went to the cocktail party at the con that evening to see some friends. Also Misha.
Got excessively drunk afterward and apparently said things I totally don't remember saying. Oops.
Spent the next few days meeting up with various friends, hanging out with the GISHWHES folks some more, squealing over Cas spoilers, walking around the city, and generally chilling out.
Saw the Trevi Fountain and Colosseum at night too, which was a first. Very pretty! I love sitting outside for dinner in the evening next to these places, sipping wine and living it up in Rome. ♥
Back in Lisbon now! :D I have a day-long layover here, saw some friends, had some drinks, headed to South America in a few hours to spend 5 or so weeks traveling around the continent with a good friend (a.k.a. Brazilian1 in my Eurotrip posts). Life is good. Except for the part where I have a 10 hour flight tomorrow. Oh well.