So as usual, I have a few different stories and experiences to share. I apologize for the lack of literary excellence but if I tried to write this so it flows well it would never get done. I hope you enjoy anyways! :)

The weekend after Gary visited me, my friend Claire had three friends from Glasgow, Scotland visit. On Saturday afternoon, we went to a crépery in Södermalm and I was introduced to the concept of savory crepes. I had a crepe with ham, cheese, egg, veggies, and ground beef. The ground beef came in patty form and was just placed right on top of the crepe… it tasted funny so I didn’t eat it, but the rest of the savory crepe was great. A couple weeks later, Claire made tons of savory crepes for fat Tuesday and I think they were better than the ones I had at the crépery!

A couple weeks after Gary visited me, my friend from high school, Greg, came and visited. He’s working in Frankfurt, Germany for a while so it was easy for him to come and spend the weekend. It was very nice of him to let me stay in his hotel room with him at the Sheraton… sleeping on a mattress that isn’t only two inches thick and laying on a piece of plywood was amazing! We mostly walked around the city (because that’s the best thing to do in Stockholm) even though the elements were against us. That weekend was the coldest and windiest weekend we’ve had this winter. On Saturday night, Greg and I went out to an authentic Swedish restaurant but in order to get there we had to cross one of Stockholm’s many bridges. The wind was really strong and it was snowing so much it was difficult to see… I was scared that we would literally be blown off the bridge! Luckily, we made it to the restaurant and the weather had improved significantly by the time we left.

That night, Greg and I went to my friend, Sul’s, birthday party. When we first arrived, Sul was no where to be found but Greg and I stayed and played some drinking games with a few Spaniards. I think we both had fun trying to remember Español… Señora Stein would have been less than satisfied had she heard me trying to speak, ha ha ha!

So, a French guy from my corridor is spending this semester in Seattle, Washington and it has been really interesting to hear his perspectives on the US. Before he even got there, he was having troubles finding a place to live and asked me for advice. He told me he found a lady who was willing to rent to him but she needed a check as a down-payment. He emailed her back and asked if he could get all her bank account information so he could just transfer money through an internet transaction (quite common here). Apparently, she did not respond and he asked me if he maybe said something wrong and wasn’t clear about what he wanted… I told him you never give out your bank account information in the US… it’s like asking to be robbed. Luckily, he found a place but I don’t think it was with that lady… whoops.

It sounds like he’s been having a lot of fun there. At the end of his first trip to the grocery store, Antoine said he thought he was getting robbed because someone started taking all his stuff and putting it in bags! He couldn’t believe he was being robbed in daylight, in a grocery store, and with so many people around! How cute is that!? He didn’t realize it was the person’s job to pack his stuff up for him. I recall being sort of surprised when I had to pack my own groceries the first time but I never thought about how it must be for people used to packing their own things.

About a week and a half ago on a Friday afternoon, I decided to go into town and walk around. I didn’t have anything else to do (except laundry – which actually really had to get done but I had scheduled to do it at 7 pm) so why not enjoy the city for a while. I walked to the tunnelbana station, hopped on a train, and ended up standing in the same spot for about 10 minutes. All the trains in the area had been shut down because smoke was detected somewhere near the station. Everyone else and I got off the train and went outside to catch the bus. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a bus going to the city center (or if they did – I just didn’t know which bus to take) so I wasn’t sure what I should do.

I saw a German guy (Oliver) who was in my Swedish 1 course in August and we began to talk. He wanted to go to Gamla Stan to get a nice cup of coffee but also didn’t know which bus to take. He knew how to walk to town from where we were so I went with him and ended up joining him for coffee. It was a really cold day so I was happy to have my gloves and hat with me… Oliver wasn’t so lucky. 5 miles later (it was only so long because we walked pretty far out of the way for a while) we arrived at the coffee shop and sat down for an hour or so to thaw.

I left my room around 4 that afternoon and by the time we were done with coffee it was 7:30 pm. So much for doing all the laundry that really needed to get done. Oliver told me about a cool restaurant that he’d been to a couple times so we decided to go. It was really cool. It was very lounge-esque and really busy (unusually busy according to Oliver). We waited about 20 minutes for a table that we shared with 2 Swedish women and then went into the lines to order our food. At this restaurant you go to the counter, tell the chef what you want, and watch the chef make it right in front of you! I got the spaghetti with Bolognese sauce and it was really good. After dinner we took the tunnelbana back to the dorm area and returned at about 11 pm! Not quite the afternoon jaunt that I had planned but it turned out to be really fun.

I did my laundry a couple days later… I started at 12 am and didn’t finish until 3:30 am! I had three loads and of course no one else was doing their laundry at that time but only one of the machines was operating. We have a stupid new system to book the laundry machines, so you can’t use them unless you’ve booked them or unless someone else has booked them but not claimed/opened them within 15 minutes of the start time. I only slept a couple hours that night… I hope they change that system soon – it’s ridiculous.

Last Thursday (February 21), I went to Istanbul! I had a layover in Warsaw, Poland and arrived in Istanbul at about 4:30 pm. I am pleased to be able to say that the main airport in Warsaw is much better than the one that Ryan Air flies to. Anyways, I was picked up by the taxi service offered from my hotel. The drive to the hotel was filled with mixed emotions… we passed some beautiful areas and some areas I knew I wouldn’t want to go back to (especially if alone). The traffic was kind of crazy and I’m not sure there is any sense to the driving on the smaller streets. The hotel I stayed in the first night was the Star Holiday Hotel and is located about 50 meters from the Blue Mosque and the St. Sophia Museum (2 of the biggest attractions in Istanbul). My room was quite small and smokey (I didn’t realize it wasn’t a non smoking room) but it was nicer and more comfortable than I expected.

That night I went to and in the Blue Mosque. It was incredible! It’s so different than anything I’ve ever seen before. I had to take my shoes off, put them in a bag, and carry them around with me while I was in the mosque. There was a certain area that the tourists were told to stay in; it was behind the main praying area and in front of the area designated as the women’s praying area. I was taking pictures when one of the “guards” from outside ran up to me with a scarf and told me to cover my head. I felt quite bad… I didn’t mean to be disrespectful in anyway but at least there were a few other women he approached after me to tell them the same thing. I saw the sign outside the mosque which said women had to wear long skirts and scarves but they were letting women in without the long skirts and I was wearing a scarf (just around my neck).

I left and walked over to the St. Sophia Museum. It was dark already and on the way, there were many people who had laid out scarves and other touristy souvenirs. A boy who must have been about 12 years old started talking to me; he asked where I’m from, my name, if I would shake his hand, and if I’d go out for drinks with him! I was very worried to shake his hand because I didn’t want to get robbed but I also didn’t want to insult him since he had already extended his hand. Needless to say, I turned down his offer of a drink but it was very weird to walk away when he was still talking to me!

Right in front of St. Sophia, I was just walking and a girl about my age stopped me and asked me where I’m from. She also wanted to shake my hand so I clutched my purse with my other hand – I suppose possibly more insulting than just saying no… :/. Anyways, she was walking with a man much older than her and said she is studying journalism but walking with her painting teacher. Sounds fishy… but I didn’t want to ask.

I walked down the next block and was literally stopped by five guys trying to get me to go into their carpet stores or cafés. They also asked where I’m from and what my name is and I said the first untrue answers that came to my mind: Sweden and Pernilla. It worked pretty well until I got to the third guy and he actually studied in Stockholm for 4 years! He started speaking to me in Swedish and I kept up just fine but told him the truth since I’m sure he could tell I’d lied. Their aggressive sales approach really wore me down so I humored the last guy and went in to his carpet shop. A handmade silk carpet that was about a square foot in size caught my eye… I asked how much he wanted for it and he said 360 Turkish Lira ~ 240 USD! I reminded him that I’m a student and left his shop really quickly… yeah right, I can’t afford that!

I had been looking for a place to eat but didn’t find one because every time I saw a place without someone outside, someone came outside as soon as I came within a meter of the menu pedestal. I didn’t like feeling pressured in to eating at a certain place so I left once the person joined me outside. I went back to my hotel and asked for recommendation of where I should eat. The guy at the desk said the place next door was good… I’m guessing the owner of the hotel also owns that restaurant or another family member does. The food was okay. I was told the steak and potatoes were good so I got that only to find that the steak was not beef but eggplant! It was okay but I think I got jipped. Then I went back to my room and watched Turkish tv for a while until I surfed a bit and happened upon Back to the Future… it was nice to watch something I understood. J

On Friday morning, I ate breakfast at the hotel since it was included. They served bread with cheese, butter, jam, hardboiled eggs, and olives. I continued to walk around and buy a few cute souvenirs. Unfortunately, one man thought it was okay to join me on my walk! He was actually very nice and told me a lot about Istanbul and it’s history but I still didn’t want to have tea with him so I told him I was going to go back to my hotel to take a nap. He was finally okay with that after we made plans to “meet” the next day… at noon where we first met… luckily, a place that I would definitely be able to avoid! Since I had already checked out of my hotel, I went into a small restaurant and had tea until it was time to pick up my bags, catch a taxi, and meet Greg at his hotel.

Greg and I stayed at the Conrad Hotel at the top of a main street in northern Istanbul. We walked around that night and tried some of the Turkish cuisine. On Saturday we got a late start so we took a taxi to the old town to see the Blue Mosque, the palace, the cistern, and the Grand Bazaar.

We went to the Saint Sophia Museum but didn’t go in. We were discussing what we should do when a really friendly Canadian lady came up to us and asked us if we’d like to look at her “Top 10 Sights: Istanbul” book. She told us about all the things she’d done and gave us some great advice. Thanks to our abundance of information we decided to skip the museum and go to the cistern and the Bazaar.

Before the Grand Bazaar, I took a stab at the public bathrooms. I had to pay about 50 cents to squat into a plastic tray! I think Greg and I were both impressed that I didn’t pee on myself but I sure am glad that I won’t have to do that on a regular basis. The Grand Bazaar was overwhelming! There were hundreds of small shops selling all the same stuff: scarves, Turkish tea, Turkish delight (candy), fake jewelry, and tons of other stuff. It’s amazing how easy it was to get lost/ disoriented in there! We didn’t get anything but it was neat to see.

Since we aren’t big fans of taxis, Greg and I decided to walk the 5 kilometers back to the hotel. I was quite happy when we finally got back to the hotel… 5 km isn’t much at all but after being on your feet walking all day, it can feel like a lot more. Greg and I stopped to eat at a restaurant under the bridge connecting the north and south parts of Istanbul. Dinner was good but we went sort of gringo… chicken and pasta. It was cool because our table was really low and we sat on pillows on very short platforms… my first little taste of Asia.

On Sunday, Greg and I took a ferry over to the Asian side of Istanbul. There wasn’t much to see there and we were crunched for time so we didn’t stay more than half an hour. On the way back, Greg was looking in the captain’s cabin and one of the guys inside saw him… so we were invited to sit in the Captain’s cabin! We also got free tea. The man steering the boat was using his knees (so he could drink tea easier) and was sitting on two thin pillows placed on an old speaker! The whole situation was quite funny.

Greg and I went to another famous mosque and then I had to take the tram back towards the hotel to get my luggage and leave for the airport. I grabbed a cab because I was running a little late and paid close attention to the meter so I wasn’t ripped off again (like I was with my ride from the airport the first day).

Security wasn’t as I expected. I guess I am used to long lines and thorough security checks so it was nice to get a break from that and have plenty of time to relax before my flight.

I’m back in Stockholm now with solid plans to go to Porto, Portugal from March 4-6 and Reykjavik, Iceland from March 16-25. I may go to Berlin, Germany or Madrid, Spain with Greg this weekend but that will be a game time decision probably made on Thursday.