French Composition Assignment: Revisited

So coming into Istanbul, I realized that I had to write a French composition using descriptive narrative techniques. That being difficult for me in English, proved to be a challenge in French, one that I overcame with the help of a little mouche buzzing about Istanbul, flying high, winding it's way through the narrow streets, smelling the spices, the fish, the life of the city.

And here I am now, the little fly, curiously investigating the mysteries of Istanbul--or I would be doing so (more efficiently), if I weren't half dead from exhaustion. I didn't get much sleep on Thursday night, right before my flight Friday, I took a two hour nap. I didn't sleep on the way to Reykjavik, but slept 2 1/2 hours in the airport. Then I got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep on Saturday night in London. Mai and I decided that it would be prudent to go to Gatwick early for our 6:40am flight, so I got about two hours last night too, making for a grand total of 11 hours of sleep since I began my adventure--technically nine hours if you don't count my midafternoon nap on Friday. Not good, not good at all. And it shows in the following videos (SIGH, don't judge me!!) OH BOTHER! It's taking too long to load. Almost 10pm, and I'm going to sleep!

But to make up for my impatience, and to thank you for your patience:

Blue Mosque

And the Journey Continues

On Saturday, I finally made it to London--9 hours late! The trains weren't running into London, so the London Express was free. So only an hour after gather all of my belongings, I finally met up with Nish south of London Bridge (Borough)...

Ultimate Fighting: My weary body and my hungry stomach duked it out and my stomach came out the victor. Nish and I headed out (Okay everyone, if you ever go to London get the Zone 1/2 Day Pass for 5.60 instead of the Zone 1/2 Single Pass for 4.00. Sigh) to Tinseltown (Station: Farringdon), a popular restaurant, because it's one of the few places open 24 hours. I went for The Full Monty (English Breakfast), which they served American sized. It was kind of gross and delicious at the same time.

We then walked over London from 1am to 3:30am, with a pit stop at Buddha Bar. I've actually have never been to the ones in New York and Paris, so it was quite fun, and my drink--Tea Rossa--was divine (plum umeshu dento, rose hip tea, orange bitters, lemon).

YUMMMM (Also had Islandic Schnapps and Tonic: Woohoo Layovers!)

Sunday was an amazingly productive sightseeing day as well. I must say that I'm quite impressed with Nish's tour guide skills...if econ/finance doesn't work out, he has another career calling. 1000% better than what I could have done, and with his help, I managed to basically see everything and get a very good overview of the city.

Surprising food highlight: The new Westfield mall (Station: White City/Shepard's Bush...for all those in California, yeah that chain!) has a wonderful posh 'food court' complete with a champagne bar and crazy architecture. We grabbed lattes and a Red Berry Cheese cake that was so good, it would be worth going out

of Bobst at 3am to get!

(This picture is really just to make Odalo jealous if he is reading this)

A whirlwind of activity basically sums up my 24 hour London visit, complete with a few surprise encounters with New York friends =D

ICELAND!!

Okay, so I suppose the amazingly beautiful strike of lightning I saw from the Airtrain was an ominous sign of what was to come. Instead of leaving JFK at 835pm (sorry no colons, I can´t find the button), my plane departed around midnight, which led to my being stranded in Iceland--for 6 hours. I suppose that is better than most, AND they fed us, even though the delay was due to weather. I suppose at this point Icelandair and Iceland needs all the business they can get and cannot afford disgruntled customers. Futhermore, those who have missed their flights to Stockholm, etc. are actually being put up for free in London hotels. Now that´s service for you.

A few observations...(damn you colon button!)

1. It´s eerily quiet over here. I´ve never been to a more deserted airport. In the hallways I can hear the pitter patter of my little feet hitting the ground hard. Also, some sort of purple flower, heather?, grows in abundance here--or at least around the airport

Purple fields of flowers from Reykjavik (Airport!)

(I can't figure out how to flip my video,  so just tilt your head to the left!)

2. From the airport I see Icelandair hangers and nothingness. Very flat, barren, desolate.

3. One thing the disastrous economic, financial crisis has personally done for me is to make the dollar strong to the Icelandic KR. So YAY DUTY FREE SHOPPING!

4. Even in Iceland, the minorities mop the floors, while those descendent from the mightly Vikings have to more posh jobs of manning the cash registers. Okay, that´s not too too fair, since all I have is anecdotal evidence, not at all a statistically significant result as my sample size is too small (one).

Now time to take some pictures, so you all can join me in my Iceland fun!

Long Time Coming

Finally, I'm getting somewhere. I've rounded up all of my trip 'necessities' and will be on my way to the airport in a few hours. I've packed my backpack, which weighs a ton. I think it's all the travel size shampoos and conditioners, sunscreens, and cortizones I bought. Also I managed to fit an empty backpack in my backpacker's backpack, so I can bring back treasures (Yeah Scott, you're birthday is just around the corner when I get back). UGH I want to be on the plane already or better yet soaking in the Reykjavik sunlight...at least I'll be halfway to London then.


We Shall Overcome: Bumps along the way.

1. Negra. Oh Negra. Somehow I ended up taking care of my roommate's cat for three weeks: the cat he shouldn't have. He went off to the Caribbean and left another roommate in charge who then went off to San Francisco. With a cheery note slipped under my door, the responsibility of keeping a black ball of fluff alive fell upon my shoulders. Luckily, at the last moment, Girl With a Conscience and Big Heart swooped in to rescue the poor neglected cat. (And she and her roommate took the litter box! HAHAHA)

2. MyAir.com. Somehow, I'm still not sure how this happened, but I booked my Istanbul-Bari, Italy ticket for the wrong day. Actually on the same day I'm leaving for Cairo from Istanbul. I attribute it to the fact that both days fall on a Friday? TGIF mindset? Eh! Luckily Myair.com allows you to change your ticket, even when you by a MyLow ticket for 23 Euros, as long as you change it 2 1/2 hours before takeoff or something like that. Only catch: the 5 Euro credit card transaction fee. I can write rant after rant about the hidden fees siamese twin connected to budget airlines. Online check-in fee Ryanair? Really? Anyway...

3. Attire. Seeing as I will be traveling to sweltering hot and rather conservative countries, the question of what to wear come to the forefront. What to wear what to wear? My usual summer garb is a skimpy summer dress--bra optional, which wouldn't fly in Egypt. Solution: Forever 21's scoopneck Ts, oh so soft and airy. At $4.50 a pop and a variety of colors, you can't go wrong. Paired with my (parachutesque) black pants, I hopefully won't die of heat exhaustion. Plus that solves the conundrum of how to go from Day Look (traipsing around Pharaonic Egypt) to Night Look (going out in Cairo where the elite carry handbags that rival those seen any New York hot spot). With a spot of YSL fushia lipstick, I'm all set.

4. Money. There are Citibanks in London, Istanbul/Fethiye/Antalya, and Cairo/Alexandria. No ATM fees, although there is always that pesky 2-3% for currency exchange. Barclays and Bank of America have an agreement so there are no fees (in the UK only). And I kind of want to try my hand at haggling for currency in the Istanbul markets. I knew my envelope of 20s under my bed would come in handy.

The Day Before

Once again it's way too late in the evening, and I'm still up. But I promise, I've been productive. I'm nearly packed (two t-shirts and a bikini down, the rest to go). I'll go to bed soon.

This will be my third pitiful attempt to create a blog. Just like my many attempts to keep a travel journal, after a few entries in said blogs and journals, my creative juices abandon me, or rather I get too caught up in the real world and abandon any initiatives to get my musings and memories down on 'paper'. Hélas what knowledge the world has missed, lost forever in the jumble that is my mind and poor self-reflection powers.

Nevertheless, once again I commence a blog. A travel blog to entertain all the insomniacs of my acquaintance, to keep track of my movements and thoughts, full of tips on vagabonding around the world on a barely there budget (June 20th was my one year anniversary of being unemployed!) and 'Kiyomi' stories.

Not sure how regularly I'll be online, mais bon.

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY BRETT!