Day 9: Athens to Istanbul

I woke up kind of early, did 2 small loads of laundry for 20 euro - rip off! I had to do laundry though. Then I talked to a travel agent associated with my hotel and booked a plane to Istanbul. I also finally got some poop meds (Immodium) and ate a damn tasty breakfast at the cafe near my restaurant. Bacon, eggs, sausage, good bread, nothing that different, but it was just fresh off the grill and fresh in general. I couldn't think of anything to do to kill time before the flight so I just went to the airport and read.

I finished this book my mom gave me called "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man". It was pretty good. I am basically completely ignorant of politics and foreign policy and well... everything that this book talked about. So, it was good reading it because now I know about the Panama Invasion and Noriega and Iran and Iraq and a bunch of other crap that you are probably shocked to hear that I know basically nothing about. Also, while talking to another traveller at the airport I discovered that I know absolutely NOTHING about Romania. He asked me, "do you know anything about Romania?" And I said, "no." Do YOU know anything about Romania? If so, leave a comment.

I finally got on the plane to Istanbul. When we landed I got scammed into this "shuttle" service to my hotel at the airport. I'm an idiot. It's like I'm that one sheep that always strays from the herd and the coyotes get me. I was told that there was no train into town. And I was told that this shuttle service was the cheapest way to get into town. I was assured that it was the cheapest. I paid 45 euro for round trip service to the hotel on their "shuttle". Then I discovered that there was a train from the airport into town. Then I discovered that my "shuttle" was just some dude driving me in his car - I was the only passenger. Great. Must be a great deal if so many people are buying it, huh? I swear, dealing with these 2nd world countries that hustle you all the time is going to bankrupt me or turn me into an asshole.

I finally arrived at the hostel and played with the free wireless for a bit. I got hungry and wandered outside in the evening to find some food, but most places were closed. I was, however, able to eat some Turkish delight on a moonlight night, heh. I slept in a hostel for 8 euro in an unairconditioned room with 6 other dudes. Other than sweating my ass off, it was alright.