Antalya/Kemer

MAGIC BREAK
The Turkish answer to Spring Break (not as extreme as the US version though). The first day it rained...everyone complained...the last two days it was crazy fun in the sun! I'll let the pictures speak...

Istanbul

This is my home at the moment...30 bed dorm at Orient Hostel in Sultanahmet

Istanbul

restoranda çalışıyorum...I work in a restaurant!
Last week I had my first two days of work here in Istanbul. Through a good friend I managed to get a job working at a tourist restaurant in the tourist area of Istanbul (Sultanahmet). Since I am actually working here illegally, I don't really have a fix job that I have to do...I basically just help out where it is needed. When there are German, English, or French speaking tourists I go and chat with them, take their order, and try to convince them to come check out our terrace ;) (which has an absolutely stunning view). Another thing I do for at least a few hours a day, is stand outside of the restaurant by the menu and try and get people to come in :) . All tourists restaurants do this, and believe it or not it does work. Certainly there are plenty of people that get annoyed by it, but there are also enough people that come in because of it. The workers are absolutely hilarious and we joke around most of the day. Another major perk of working there is that I get to eat the worker's food whenever I want to. It is always some Turkish speciality, which means it is always delicious. Also the workers in the kitchen constantly speak Turkish to me, which is fantastic for me since I am trying to learn the language! The most surprising thing about the job so far is definitely that I am constantly meeting different types of travellers...Australians, Brits, Americans, etc. A lot of them are travelling for a longer period of time and are all doing it in different ways. Talking to them I've learned so many good tips about how to travel and places I just have to see. It also gives me hope that I will be able to travel for a long time! I have also met a few foreigners who live in Istanbul and have established themselves here as English teachers/tutors. So currently I am also trying to establish myself here as an English teacher/tutor...they pay very well here for it :)!
Basically, it's time to start properly living in Istanbul!!!

The restaurant...Cozy Pub.

The view from the terrace...but I need to get a shot of it at night. Everything is lit up at night, even the Blue Mosque. I go up to the terrace every now and then and just take in the view. Amazing perk of this job!

Kapadokya

What a perfect way to cap of the best imaginable start (first week) to Istanbul...3 day trip to Kapadokya!! You might have seen pictures or heard of the place...the landscape there looks something like this:

Jett torturing me with "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj

Jett and I booked a 3 day tour through our hostel in Istanbul. It was overall very cheap for such a trip...we quickly realized why: 12 hour bus trip there...12 hour bus trip back :( ! So the actual travelling was very tiring and tedious, but it ended up being well worth the pain. We stayed one night in a cave hotel:

which was great, because we had the whole room to ourselves to play music and drink...BUT it was crazy cold! We had tours for 2 days and they were incredible. There's a lot of different sides to Kapadokya, which were highlighted really well by the itinerary. Our tour guide was around our age, so she tolerated our little shenanigans. We were climbing things the entire time, even when it was frowned upon :) ... and Jett insisted on playing "Super Bass" on any given occassion, most notably maybe to a group of pigeons in a coop. 

This is what tortured pigeons look like; notice
the I-phone on the right :)

We were soon known throughout the tour group as the clowns constantly doing German accents. 

None of these pictures I am about to show can really do justice to the beauty of this place. My favorite aspect of Kapadokya is that you are able to really interact with certain sites...you'll see from some of the pics what I mean by this! Amazing place...but don't go by bus!

Underground cities where people half my height lived!

Our tour group, with our very fun tour guide in the middle!

KAPADOKYA!!

Istanbul

I came to Istanbul mainly to eat...so of course I've been eating like a sultan! The city itself is also very quickly growing on me. Of course its beauty and huge assortment of things to eat, drink and do are reasons for that. As most of you know I've been learning Turkish...and my favorite thing so far in Istanbul (of course besides the food) has been testing/practicing it. Anything from ordering in restaurants/cafes to asking for directions...last night for example a baker gave us directions back to our hostel and because I wished him a good night and a great work day in Turkish he gave us a freshly baked bread for free (at 5 AM)...not much but amazing nonetheless. I start working next week and because getting to places takes quite a bit of time here I'll probably be moving into a hostel during the week (got a special rate). Me and my  buddy Jett leave to Capaddocia today until Sunday...can't freakin wait

Istanbul

Couldn't ask for a better start to my first day in Istanbul! Kahvaltı (breakfast) consisting of mouthwatering meat börek and çay with my buddy Emre. Then spent the whole day checking out some of the city and eating along the way. I realized two things today: 1. I'm super glad I chose to stay here longer, because there is just countless stuff to do, see and experience. 2. I'm really excited to be staying with different people while I'm here, because everybody has their own Istanbul...and now I'll get to see the city from totally different sides. Check out the view from where I'll be working...and let the jealousy begin mwahaha  

Niederselters

Roughly one year ago I was starting my Bachelor Thesis, i.e. finishing up University...about the time where everyone starts asking you "What do you wanna do when you're done?". My answer was very clear to me: Travel the world a bit! It was a simple idea, which I quickly realized is not as simple to pull through...especially the way I wanted to do it. My way of travelling the world involves staying longer periods of time in selected countries, thereby properly getting to know the culture, people and of course the country itself. Based on very good friendships my first 2 major destinations were quickly found: Turkey and Malaysia. So I'll be spending at least 3 months in each of these countries...as a start. Travelling for a long time requires a few things: travel insurance, accommodation plans, flights, selected items, certain things planned, and of course that moolah (money ;) ). 3 months of living with my parents, working 2 jobs (tutoring and bakery) and finally doing my liscence and now I'm ready to head out. This blog is really only a way to keep my friends and family updated on what I'm up to, so I'm not quite sure how frequent I'll be updating this bad boy. Who knows though, I might get very into it...Tomorrow night I fly to Istanbul to start this adventure Oriental style...booyah!