In Which I Do Not Enjoy Turkish Delight

Turkish Delight is like fancy Dots Candy.  There, I've said it.  It is chewy, and sometimes they put nuts in it, hence the fancy.  And they charge a lot more than Dots.  Those are about the only differences I noticed.

Jelly Logs

In happier news, this is part 2 of my Turkey blog.  I had too much to say in my first one.  This one is going to be nautically themed.  Put on your lifejackets, kids.

One of the really great things about Istanbul is the meeting of the cultures in one huge city.  This culture fusion can be physically felt by crossing the Bosphorus into Asia from Europe.  Istanbul is actually split in half by the Bosphorus, and so their public transportation runs a regular ferry across the strait.  Of course I had to go.  I went to Japan six years ago, and after Istanbul I am officially able to say that I have been on both sides of Asia.  Kind of a big deal, I'm expecting to get piles of job offers from travel magazines any day.  To be honest, the Asia side of Istanbul was kind of boring.  There's no major tourist attractions, and much less English.  I'm not trying to be an ugly American, I swear.  I honestly didn't understand the language, so I was kind of bored.  The real excitement came when a 20 lira note flew out of my pocket and into the water as I was getting back on the ferry.  No fewer than four crew members got down flat on their chest with poles and nets to get roughly the equivalent of $12 back to me.  It was nice to get away from the aggressive sales pitches and street vendors and actually have people just be nice, with nothing in it for them.  I've missed that.

Oh hey Asia

This is public transportation

Ugh, enough feelings.  The other nautically themed thing I did in Istanbul was to walk along the seaside.  I love water, love love love it.  I've been dying to go swimming lately.  This was not exactly a beach type of place, but still awesome just to get the sight and smell of the ocean.  There were also thousands of jellyfish just doing their thing in the water.  You go jelly dudes.

That brought my trip to a close.  The most noteworthy thing that happened on the way back to Paris was that I struck up a conversation with a pilot who is apparently so dissatisfied with his life that he feels the need to rain on everyone else's parade.  He told me that college is a sham, and that my career goal is too lofty and too much in the public eye to be attainable because better schools have people going for that job too.

You sir, are a jerk.  You also told me that you're 59 and never moved out of your parents' house.  There, now the internet knows the embarrassment that is your life.  That'll teach you.

Goodbye Europe....

...Hellooo Asia!