Day 79: Unexpected Expense (Sometimes all you can do is chuckle)

I got up early this morning with everything planned out. Boarding for my flight wasn't until around 1:15pm, so I figured I had lots of time for the Parthenon and Parthenon Museum. I got up around 6:30am to get ready and packed up all my things. I stopped by an internet cafe on my way to the Acropolis to print out my boarding pass to Istanbul, and got to the ticket office around 7:50. The gates opened at 8:00, and while I wasn't the first in line my practice at walking uphill combined with my knowledge that no, those pillars over there aren't part of the Parthenon meant that I had 5-10 minutes around the temple before anybody else (minus the omnipresent construction workers) worked their way up.




Just as I was leaving the Acropolis, things went bad. I didn't have a watch, so I was taking out my camera to check the time on it to make sure I was still on schedule and dropped it. I know, it's so newbish - not really much I can say. The thing still worked, but the screen was dead. I was annoyed with myself, but strangely also incredibly amused by it all. I'm not sure if irony is the appropirate term, but after frantically trying to hunt it down two days earlier only to break it just seemed like some twisted fate. At least this way I get my memory card and another spare battery!

I continued with my plan to visit the Parthenon Museum, and took a few pictures with difficulty (not being able to confirm how zoomed in or straight I was). The museum is pretty cool though. The interior section is built to the dimensions of the actual Parthenon so all the marblework (and plaster copies of the extensive bits the British have) can be put in their actual positions, and glass floors let you look down to get a feeling for the actual size.

It was going to be cutting it a little closer than I had planned, but I also found time to find a camera shop. They had the upgraded model of my current camera, and I wasn't going to be able to continue without a screen, so I bought it. As I mentioned this gives me another battery and a few new features - like GPS location tagging on photos, and it's blue! I'll carry the old one around for the time being as a backup, and maybe try to take it apart and see if it can be salvaged later.

Anyway, all this and it was still only noon. I took the metro to the airport and succesfully caught my flight to Turkey. I got my visa in the airport smoothly, and took the shuttle bus to one of the main squares. Here I had another hiccup as it took me nearly 2 hours of walking to find my hostel. This might not sound too bad, but it was 36 degrees out, and I was carrying around all my possessions. After questioning numerous people I eventually found the place and checked in with relief.

My initial impression of Istanbul is that it's a wacky, wacky place. It definitely has tinges of Egypt to it, and it's very, very crowded, but it is incredibly full of culture and energy. I hadn't sorted out my new camera yet, so I'm going to wait until tomorrow when I can get some pictures to really go into detail on things. I went out for dinner with a couple roommates from the hostel and had some fresh swordfish. It was pricier than most of my meals, but I felt I needed a treat (even though I'd already spent much more for the day than I wanted). No specific plans for tomorrow yet. We'll see what happens.