So I started to get a routine it would seem. I get up, take a shower, grab my computer and head to the lobby of the hostel to do my regular internet “thing.” I feel a little better about heading out this morning compared to yesterday though, and after one more cup of coffee I’ll be on my way to visit the Hagia Sofia or is that Sophia… and other sights. The Hagia is one of the  “must see” things in my life so I’m looking forward to it. After that I’ll probably do the true exploring… kind of make myself get a little bit lost in back streets and alleys. I don’t want to get totally lost, but lost enough that I see things that I probably would never see if I just stayed safe. I kind of did that in Venice and except for not being able to get “unlost” it was fun.

I finally checked the exchange rate of the Lira against the dollar, and it turns out that it’s about 2 to 1. That was a huge surprise because I was told that it was 1:1, that makes everything half as expensive. The sweatshirt I bought yesterday was $15, not bad.

I’m starting to like the hostel I’m in, it’s definitely a young persons hostel, The best way to describe it, is it’s a place to hang out. The beds aren’t comfortable, there’s really no lights to speak of (literally you can’t see the keyboard of the computer), 60s and turkish music plays 24/7 in the lobby. I just heard the Doors, and there are Anarchist posters placed all around the lobby. I wonder what they think of me. They probably figure I’m some conservative guy… little do they know. :)