Shaved

Day: 23

Woke up today with a new plan to see Turkey starting tomorrow. I headed downstairs and joined some American girls who just got back from Turkey for a breakfast of toast and Nutella (A hazelnut spread, kind of tastes life a mix of chocolate and peanut butter) and a cup of tea. The told me a few good places to stay in Istanbul and Anatalya, and reassured me about a few of my visa concerns with getting into the country. The visa costs $20 and has to be paid in US currency at the border. Fortunately for me I have a small stockpile of dollars down deep in my backpack.

After three glasses of tea I finally gathered the energy to get out and actually make it to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which I have only been able to see from outside the gates for the last two days. It was very impressive and wasn’t covered in scaffolding or tourists, like the Acropolis was. After about 45 minutes there taking plenty of fisheye pictures I headed over to the Roman Stadium, home of the original Olympic games in 1896, and first built in the 4th century B.C. The rest of the morning I saw a bunch of ruins and random looking old rocks, carvings, flowers and street preformers. It was quite pleasing.

Since I have arrived in this warmer climate a couple of days ago I have been pleased that I could once again go back to wearing my sandals. What I did realize though is that when it’s warm a beard might not be the best idea, too itchy and hot. I went back to the hostel and shaved off my sad excuse for a beard. It was more like a neard (neck beard) anyways. Once my beautiful face was once again revealed I settled in for a nice afternoon nap only to wake up and find that with all the sun today my friend, Sunburn, has came back to me. If you saw me in person you might laugh, I had a beard when I got the sun, but after I shaved I was a mixture of sunburn and whiteness all over my face.

The rest of the day was spent watching the 6 o’clock movie, Pulp Fiction today, having a dinner of Gyros and Heiniken and typing up what I spent the day doing. Not an excessively exciting day, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. My face feels so weird, all soft and smooth.