next chapter: Turkey

So... my blog is 2 weeks behind i think... 

So I went to Istanbul for the reasons 

already explained. Got the overnight train from Thessaloniki. It was quite exciting because i had never travel by train before (long distance). I had 

my own cabin and a berch and everything... (actually not more than that, it was very small). Met a French guy - Benjamim - and was talking to him for many hours. Shame I didn't get his e-mail address, or I could visit him in Paris... 

They take your passport and keep it for about 2 hours, until we pass the Greek border. it was quite scary because my passport is my life... then they wake you up again when we reach the Turkish border a

nd take your passport one more time. We have to get out and pay for the visa. and only after that they give you the passport back, but they still wake you up another time - customs... i had to open my lugagge but the guy didn't even look at it. 

So after this 14-hour journey we arrive in Istanbul.  It was very hot and very crowded. It was like a Disneyland for adults - queues to get into places, overpriced tickets, and amusement in the end. I was asked to describe it in one word and I said 'colorful'. It is just so different that it is nice. I have to say I didn't do much. I did the main things and I liked them all - the Topnaki Palace, Haghia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, I went to the new part of town, and to the Archeological Museum.

 

And that's it. It is not much for 3-4 days, I could have done it in 2. But it was so hot... and the hostel had a roof terrace and it was nice to go back to the hostel around 4pm and just relax, have a shower, sleep a bit, read, feel the breeze, do nothing. The area I stayed at is quite leafy, it is nice when you get a shade. I met 2 girls in my room on the very same day I arrived: Ann and Kayla. They were my compagnions in Istanbul and we had fun! We would do our own things during the day but always meet up back in the hostel in the afernoon and always go out for a drink - the endless search for the cheapest beer in town! 

we went to a Turkish Bath (the one you go completely naked and have a massage) and that was quite an experience. It was a bit odd at some points, but very relaxing and you do leave with the feeling that you are clean. 

By the way, do you know that Troy is in Turkey???? I ALWAYS thought it was in Greece but it is not!

So whilst in Istanbul I started seeing lots of things about Cappadocia and felt like going there. So i did. Booked a tour (so i wouldn't have to figure anything out on my own)! It is a crazy place.. i mean, people lived in caves in the rocks... until the 1920's!! It is something like you've never seen before. I enjoyed it. I stayed in a cave room. heheh 

So there was another site that i also wanted to go: Ephesus. It was an important city in ancient times, i wanted to see the ruins because from what is left you can actually have an idea of the city, you can still see the street, etc. So went there. Ruins, ruins, ruins. Also went to the house where they say Virgin Mary died. We went to a place where they make the carpets. 

When i looked at the map I realised there is a Greek island just off the coast of Turkey and the ferries leave from the city where i was staying... so instead of going all the way back to Istanbul and taking the train back (that was the original plan), it made more sense to take the ferry to Samos. 

This was last Tuesday (exactly a week ago), and this is end of my Turkish tale. 

it happened in Thessaloniki

I know i disappeared... but internet connection was limited in Turkey and also I had to focus on other things... 

anyway, before I proceed, I wanted to tell 2 funny things that happened in Thessaloniki that I forgot to tell you before... 

The first one is the place where i had lunch... the city was like a ghost town, as i said before and it was also hard to find a place to eat because everything was shut. So I walked past this little place (pictures above) and there were some old greek men eating there - and you know the rule: if there is senior locals eating at a place is because the food is good! There was also a tourist couple (very blonde!), so I figured they were tourist-friendly. I walked in, sat down and asked for the menu. 'No menu' the guy said not so sure of his English skills... then he asked 'meat?', to which I said 'yes'. After that his English was nule and in order to show me what they had he signalled for me to follow him to the kitchen and pointed at the food they had. hahaha it looked good, so i said it was ok. Looked like rice with meat, but in fact it was pasta. The meat was very good though! Anyway, they only have one main per day - a very big pot of it - and there's nothing else to choose from. very funny. i felt self concious to take pictures in such a place, as if their local was a tourist attraction... so i pretended i was just looking at the camera (that's why you can see the table edges). 

The other thing is: is my skirt that short??? I got evil looks from old greek people and an old Orthodox lady dressed in black even did the cross sign... and she kept talking to me in greek although it was clear I coulndt understand... I felt really self-concious. After that i put the skirt right at the bottom of the suitcase because that would be a definately no-no in Turkey! 

Greece - Plan B

I had to leave Athens... by the way, the whole time in Athens was a bit of a waste... i hadn't planned anything, i changed my plans and as a result i have the feeling i did nothing. i spent 5 nights there and all i can say i did was to visit the sacred site of Delphi and go one day to the beach. apart from that, a lot of time on the internet cafe (resolving pending issues and checking what to do next) and hanging out at the hostel's roof bar with other backpackers - which is fun, but after some time you get tired of replying to the same questions...
oh, by the way, i didn't feel well on the last day in athens... my stomach... plus i was feeling very weak, thought i was going to black out on my own on the tram... i got very scared! a girl who was sleeping in my bedroom gave me some medicine and i stayed in that night; went to bed very early. i started to feel better on the next day - i felt hungry for the first time in 4 days! (then i knew i was getting better)
and the guy from the hostel let me leave a bag there until i'm back. i wasn't thinking straight in the last month or so... you can't imagined how much i packed. there was NO WAY i would manage to carry that around. so left a whole bag in Athens. that was actually the best idea of the month! i might be starting to think straight again! this whole thing has been an emotional roller coster... sometimes i am very happy, sometimes i am very lonely and lost, without knowing what to do... i hope i am back on track now.
yesterday i started my way to the northeast of Greece, to Macedonia. Got a train in the morning to Thessaloniki (6 hrs). The other stupid thing i did was to spend a night here this weekend... it was bank holiday on friday and everything is shut. now, if everything was shut in Athens, obviously it would be shut in Thessaloniki! it is a ghost town! EVERYTHING IS SHUT, no cars, no one on the street... went to bed early, slept about 12 hours. i keep having long dreams... since the other night when i wasn't well... some are like nightmares... i dream about Reiss, about things in Rio, everything that has been haunting me in the past couple of weeks... very bizarre.
anyway, i think i walked the whole city today in about 4 hrs. (i was following my guide, which is another sign that i am starting to behave like myself again!) now i have nothing to do...
i have 2 hours to kill until my next train - i am going to Istanbul! (that was plan B). Istanbul is one of the cities in Europe that was on my list and i hadn't been able to go, so i am glad that i am doing it. it is relatively close to here and a lot cheaper, and it will give me time to plan Greece properly. I will come back later and hopefully a lot of people will have returned to work and the islands won't be so busy. that was the wisest plan - I hope!

Greece - the return - chapter 2

i will try to write everything very quickly because i've been in the internet for the last 5 hours trying to figure out where to go next and haven't even had lunch... 

well, i kind of completely changed the purpose of the trip! 

the original idea was to rent a room in athens to use it as a base to explore the nearby ancient cities, and maybe get a part-time job to pay for some expenses (hmm... going out expenses!). in the last couple of months i had been in contact with 2 people here in Greece (i didn't tell anyone about this because i think things don't happen if we tell) and that gave me some hope that things would work out great! but they didnt... 

the first person is a friend of a friend whom i met briefly before. she is greek, lives in athens and has a spare room in her flat. so i thought maybe i could rent it of her for a month, but she just disappears. i know right now she is one of the islands. she hasn't replied to e-mails or text messages... so... i gave up on that. and the thought of flat-hunting in a strange country with a strange language is too terrifying. i remember how haunted it was in london and i can't imagine going through it here (specially in this heat)...

the other person i had been in contact with was the editor of the Athens News - the only newspaper in English in Greece. I had sent him a sample of my work and had arranged an interview with him the day after i arrived. I just thought that instead of working in a bar i could do what i know to do - to write, about fashion, obviously. so i thought it could give me good pocket money, but again i was wrong... first because he said he only publishes a fashion article every 6 weeks (in average), so i would have left Greece by then; second because they pay soo sooo little and it would hardly help. (i am not saying how much because someone who shouldn't know might be reading this). Anyway, i did agree to write a story for him, but that will only happen in September (related to London Fashion Week), so will be of no help right now... 

so i got back to the hostel on tuesday feeling very frustated and lost... bless the 2 nice girls who were sharing the room with me - i started talking to them and it helped me to clear my ideas. i had a nice time with them drinking and going out for dinner. and then i decided i will just travel. so no more work and no more flat-hunting-staying in athens sort of thing. 

took the 'day off' yesterday and went to Delphi (where people used to go to consult the oracle!)

and just spent this whole time here in the internet researching where to go. those girls are going to be in the island of Ios tomorrow, but their hostel is fully-booked, as everything else i looked in the islands. so, my theory - the idea of going with the flow is beautiful, but high season is not the right time to do it! i checked countless islands and couldn't find a combination ferry / hotel availability / price that worked on either of them... 

so i created a plan B! but i will only say what it is after it happens! 

xx

Greece - the return - chapter 1

So... arrived in Athens last night and only then it hit me that what i did was a bit crazy... i had to fill in the registry at the hostel i am staying at for the first 3 nights - when it came to address, i realised i don't have one! I DON'T HAVE AN ADDRESS! Plus, country of residence.. ?? Uk? Greece? Brazil?? that was very bizarre... i had to leave it blank. 

the guy from the reception remembered he's seen me before, but nothing further than that. He asked me where i've been since and i replied 'London'. And he said with a puzzled look 'that's strange... i thought you'd be around the islands...'. Which means i am the only crazy person who goes home and back within 2 months... Then at the hostel everyone is in their early 20's - my age when i moved to England - and travelling around Europe. They all ask me the same questions, but I have no answers... 'where do you live' 'at the moment no where'. 'how long are you staying' 'not sure'. 'where are you going next' 'i don't know'. 

i am the prototype of a lost person! 

the good thing is that everyone thinks i'm around 26! that feels good! 

xx

pão-de-ló, como dizia a minha bisavó...

Gente! Olha como o Clint Eastwood era bonito quando jovem! Fiquei chocada. 

modelitos Durrr / Trash

algumas fotinhas dos modelitos de segunda passada na Durrr, que é uma night as segundas na The End (super young!). 

A Durrr é uma reciclada da Trash, que durou 10 anos e terminou no Natal de 2006. Várias bandas começaram lá e o idealizador da noite, o DJ Erol Alkan, hoje é super conhecido. Eu posso falar com orgulho que vivenciei pelo menos uns 4 anos trash. Eu carreguei para lá todo mundo que veio visitar do Brasil e estava por aqui numa segunda feira. E vários dos meus amigos atuais eu conheci por causa da Trash. (anyway, reminiscências do passado, de tempos que não voltam mais... That was the best of London!) Lá era o tipo de boate onde você sempre vê as mesmas caras, então depois de um tempo dá até para ir sozinha pq vc sabe que vai encontrar alguém. 

A Trash acabou pq o Erol cansou, e os outros djs que tocavam na noite seguiram com a Durrr, no mesmo local. Só que óbvio que não tem a mesma 'atmosphere' - ou então sou eu que estou ficando velha. Anyway, a Trash tinha o famoso 'dress code' - se a pessoa não fosse cool, não entrava - então até hoje as meninas se arrumam, e é ótimo para 'people watching'. 

beijos