Istanbul, Turkey

I woke up today at 09:00, showered, dressed, and got ready to see more of Istanbul. My plan was to visit Maiden’s Tower, Çamlıca Hill, the Rumeli Fortress, and – if I had time – the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. However, I did not realize that May 1^st was an important day for protestors in Turkey (much like I didn’t realize January 25^th was the anniversary of the 2011 Revolution in Egypt and thus an important day for their protestors) and I was surprised to see so many police officers with riot gear, weapons, and gas masks just a short distance from the hostel I was staying at (the hostel I was at was very close to ground zero for these protestors, not too distant from Taksim Square, which was completely shut off by police to keep protestors out). Many roads and shops were closed on account of the protests and I had to walk through crowds of police, protestors, and journalists to reach the Beşiktaş Ferry Terminal, which happened to be closed today, thanks to the protests. So, there was no easy way to reach the Asian side of Istanbul and see the sites (i.e. Maiden’s Tower, Çamlıca Hill); I then walked down Meclis-i-Mebusan street, which was devoid of all vehicular traffic (a strange sight in regards to the last few days), before turning toward Taksim Square; my hope was to reach the metro station and maybe make it to Rumeli Fortress, but many roads were closed and I was told that the Metro 2 was not operating (probably a lie told by a pathetic government lackey, but, with the roads closed, I was not able to see for myself – I despise government lackeys . . .). So, I walked around the Kabataş and Beşiktaş districts, which were mostly devoid of people and traffic (in fact, in some parts, it felt like I was in a deserted city, like Tom Cruise at the end of ‘Vanilla Sky’). Eventually, I gave up trying to get out of this area and walked back to the hostel defeated. I stopped at the local market and bought some Turkish beer, wine, and snacks; then I bought two chicken shawarma wraps and returned to my room in the hostel. I then drank the beer (not very good), had some snacks, and relaxed. I did hear some shots fired by the riot police and I later found out from the news that the police did fire tear gas and use water cannons on the protestors to help keep them contained, and they arrested over 150 of them; there were some injuries, but no fatalities (like in Egypt on January 25^th). I then fell asleep for about two hours before waking up and wasting time on the internet. Eventually, I opened the bottle of Turkish wine, which was made from Boğazkere and Öküzgözü grapes; it tasted of black cherries, plums, black currants, and licorice. After consuming most of the wine, I laid down in bed and fell asleep.