After six months of silence and depression during my staying in Athens, travelling strikes again but this time to Turkey. It was a great chance to discover my roots and see where my grandmothers grew up. The plan was to travel for 2 weeks by train from Athens-Istanbul-Ankara-Izmir-Istanbul. The duration of the trip from
Athens to Istanbul lasted almost 18 hours. I had to change train at Thessaloniki. The trip was not at all tiring cause we left from Thessaloniki in the afternoon and we arrived next morning. I had booked bed for the night and believe me that's the best 
option.. Besides, it's not much more money than booking a sit. The only trouble is at the borders when you arrive around 3-4 in the morning and the guards are coming to the room and check how many things you have and make you questions, especially if you are greek:)Anyway I arrived at Istanbul early in the morning.. I made the mistake and took a cab for the
hostel. Please don't do that mistake.. Taxi drivers are thieves, not only there but also at Greece and Bulgaria.. After arriving at METROPOLITAN HOSTEL I realised that the distance was pretty closed.. Murat and his younger brother were waiting for me.. They are so warm people. When I entered the hostel after 5 minutes a young man appeared with a big smile and full of energy. It was Yusuf, Mourat's cousin. I was talking with them around half an hour. I recommend you this hostel when you go to Istanbul. The stuff is friendly, the prices are normal and the hostel is in Sultanahmet. I left my backback at the room and I left immediately for discovering Istanbul. The day I arrived there, Pap of Rome was also there so the centre was full of police and i couldn't do my own moves.. Anyway, I was walking behind the Blue Mosque and I
saw an underground kebab fastfood which was at the basement. I looked 
carefully before I enter in and the only person who was inside, was a young boy who smiled at me. I realised that the people there are smiling and I have missed that a lot. So I entered there direct after the smile. I ate a nice cheap lunch but it was too spicy.. Later I begun to talk with the young boy. His name was Hammit and he was kurdish. He told me that he is in my age but I wasn't sure about him.. Then he suggested to me to show me around but not in the center.. We went to a
supurb which was 1 hour from the center. i don't remember the exact name. It was awful. The streets were destroyed and it was full of poor houses and some of them were half-destroyed.. From the other side, I liked that i saw this part of 
Istanbul cause it's good when you travel to discover both sides of a country. We went to his father's place. It was sth like a children's play area and there was also cafe-nargile place. I was amazed from the huge nargile. They told me that they were originally from Saudi Arabia. I did one with Hammit's father but i got dizzy after 2 hours.. Then Hammit gave me his email and he had put his day of his birth.Afterwads, we got a cab and we went at Sultanahmet. We sat out of Blue Mosque and it was the time of pray. I saw the sea birds flying around of the Blue Mosque and the imam's voice during the pray was incredible.. I had a flash-back then and i remembered the movie "A touch of spice".Next day I went to Spice Bazaar.. The smelling is wonderful.. The shopkeepers
there, full of smile as always, are trying to convice you to buy sth from them by standing you elma chai (apple tea). Most of them are good negociators so you should be careful in what u buying.. There is a shop there that sells cheap spices in compare with the others. There is a guy there from Marroco. His name is Ibo. He is very kind and helpful and he makes the best prices!! So don't hesitate to buy anything from there. I found also syrian tea that you cannot find in another shop, at least at Spice Bazaar. Later I came in
contact with my friend, Cenay. I met Cenay through MSN by accident, few years ago and at last i met her from close. I went to Sabanci University and I met her there. I cannot describe my feelings when I saw her.. I just couldn't believe that i met her after so long.. She introduced me to some friends and then we watched Vega's live at the university.. I have to say that this university is one of the bests i have ever seen.. Later we slept at her place. I met her parents and her lovely sister.. They already knew about me so it was also for them big surprise to see me at their place.. At 5:00 o'clock i woke up from imam's voice. It was the first time in my life that I didn't mind to be waken up from someone unfamiliar.. 3 hrs later we went at Cenay's university and from there I left for Sultanahmet.
Next day I took the boat and i went to the old train station to leave for
Ankara. I met Tugba over there and we traveled together. The train was much better than those in Greece and cheaper. Eyup was waiting for me. We drank elma tea at the station. It reminded me of that old traditional cafes in Greece of 1930's. Later we went at the student houses where we stayed for a night. The room was full of red carpets and so well decorated. I admit that turkish students have very nice taste in decoration cause the room looked so warm and you need it from the moment the weather is awful. Next day we visited some sight-seeing after visiting first Eyup's family.
