Quoting sophie: It was on May 2003 when i came to Turkey for the first time. My excuse for this trip was a short holiday with my best friend. The real purpose was to meet somebody i had been talking with,for months, through internet.
I was adviced, from friends and relatives who had been there before, not to wear a mini skirt, not to wear tight jeans, not to smile and talk to strangers and (lol) to always wrap a jacket around my weist while walking in Istanbul's streets! Because, they said, turkish men find it easy to lay their hands on women's b*tts while walking  Also, to keep my money safe at the hotel, not on me, to hold my bag tight and to never buy anything without bargaining first. Most of all, those who had never been in turkey, were worried about my greek nationality and how turks would behave to me cause of this.
What i really found there was polite people, friendly, who never embarassed me in any way, no matter if i was walking alone in the streets or not, with or without a jacket around my weist  I realized that they were being even more friendly to me, as soon as i was mentioning i was greek, especially when saying i was from Selanik (Salonica,Ataturk's motherland). Nobody ever tried to steal my bag and they even gave it to me when i left it in a coffee shop!
The people were amazing and so was Istanbul. And i have to say the same about every other place i ve ever been in turkey, except from kusadasi. (I have to admit that there, shop owners at least, were less innocent with tourists)
The only good piece of advice my friends had given me, was about bargaining. Yes i did it, and yes i had fun with it though its not my style at all.
Since then, Turkey has become my favorite destination. And every time i pass the borders to enter this amazing country, i feel like coming home...  |
not even 1 lira... im terrible eh? 
