Istanbul

Merhaba! Hello from Turkey! I am here in Istanbul, one week into a two-month exploration of Turkey. After a very enjoyable summer working at summer camp for boys in Maine, I am taking a rain check on the American recession/my own job search, using the slumped economy as an excuse to itch my wanderlust (though to be fair, I could have legitimized any number of ridiculous reasons to hop on plane: pollen count, ominous cloud shapes, unappealing day-time cable programming…).

I am traveling alone for the month of October. Thanks to the generosity of a friend of a former co-worker, I am staying in an apartment in Kavacik (say: kav-ah-jik), a neighborhood within the Istanbul city limits, about five miles from the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and other famous Turkish landmarks. I have two weeks to explore the area before leaving for the Czech Republic, where I’ll spend one week visiting a high school friend who works as a high school English teacher outside of Prague.

After a week in Eastern Europe, it’ll be back to Istanbul where, at the beginning of November, I’ll be joined my good friend Brandon. We will then have one month to explore the country as we see fit. Though we have no strict itinerary, I expect we’ll pay visits to: Ankara (the capital city), Trabzon (a Black Sea port town in the northeast region), Cappadocia (the area in central Turkey famous for its conical rock formations), and the Aegean coastline. Some Greek island hopping will be also be a must!