plane..taxi...boat...bus...plane...taxi...Athens! I do love ISTANBUL. We did not really get to see Istanbul. Last time I was here I was 21 years old and stayed in a hostel near the blue mosque for $2.50! (see the journal entry at the bottom of this post if you'd like)

Oh how things have changed!

Freddie and I made it safely to Istanbul. nice taxi ride seeing sites I hadnt seen for so long. Our little misadventure led us to be the 1st Gumballers to register in Istanbul! yeah! too bad it wasnt a checkpoint and too bad we didnt have our car!! 1st thing we did was call down for toothbrushes and toothpaste and then proceeded to take our showers. a shower has NEVER felt so good! What an ordeal. Talk about a test of a new friendship...but we made it through with flying colors.

When the bus of Gumballers arrived at the hotel...we got to reunite with car 23 and other new friend gumballers. And we got our luggage back that was scattered in the other cars and taken on the people plane. We got updated on all of their stories (AWSOME!) check out the video of the Bentley GTC that Michael was in wwith car 23 right there. Way to be in the middle Team Warrior Heart! http://www.gtspirit.com/2007/05/01/bentley-gtc-caught-by-police-video/

Boat under the beautiful bridge (which reminded me of the oakland bay bridge). I was hangin w the Fuel Girls again (we just seem to end up in the same place)...then great dinner and part at some aswome club. Loads of fun. called my son to make sure he was being good for his mommy at home. I really do miss him...though i have no concept of time or how long Ive been away from him.

Back to the hotel...groups split up. I went to the Sultan Suite for some sillyness. Bed around 5:30am or so...slept till 10am. Woohoo, almost a full nights rest! Next morning, breakfast then boat taxi to avoid street traffic. Got on a bus that was so cramped some Gumballers had to sit on the ground. Got to airport where we had an entire commercial flight to ourselves...

Unfortunately, our photo/video problems continue. My camera fell on the ground going through security and broke. I bought a new video camera in dutyfree in Turkey and got it Athens to find it does work (1,100 Euros!). What the?????? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?

As we landed, we saw the cars out on the tarmac...which brought thunderous applause to the plane. Unfortunately, due to import issues, we can not get them till tomorrow. Taxi to Athens. Ironed clothes for the White Party and out to dinner. I have almost entirely lost my voice. I can barely hear myself. That is suboptimal!

Got to see the parthanon from the top floor of the hotel where the party is. I went downstairs to just chill a bit and write this. My man Freddie is still out. Good man.

Tomorrow as of now, I have been offered to ride in the other carrera GT...the yellow one, since the copilot had to exit the rally. So, I abandoned one Carrera GT in London to get a new one in Athens! Ahh...sweet irony!

Tomorrow to Albania and our UN efforts there :-) I need to go now and sew the zipper back on my tux pants. Funny...of course I had a wardrobe accident on top of everything. I was wearing the pants last night, went into the bathroom, tugged on my zipper which was stuck and tore it off the pant! Yikes. kept my sirt untucked till got to hotel. I have worn the tux jacket everyday at least, so am keeping my promise to honor my advertous spirit grandpa. This is a doosie gramps.

Also, now that we've settled down a bit- I just wanted to make something clear. I love going to France. Ive been many times. I have French friends, I love French wine (lots of the food is too rich for me though :-) I have never had a problem there before. Anyway...dont hate me France...I dont hate you...but I dont have much love for one particular guy....Id love to drop him in Brixton at 2am.

May 2 1993 4:15am Thank God for small favors. I am writing from the shadows in front of the closed travel agent. There are no street lights here. Upon waking up the hotel owner to unlock tohe door- I stepped into the night. Istanbul is opaque with sea mist defracting what little light there is to guide me. An eerie feeling came over me as the echos of the fog horns in the distance emerged from the sea- as ships called to each other in the darkness. The sound of seagulls pierced the silence left between the signaling of the barques. And I turned the corner- the tourism police station- with its machine gunned guard lay just across the street. And 100 meters away. The silouette of his wapon bids me safety in the cool sea breeze- we are alone in this fog. And now I wait- for tomorrow, I will be in Troy.

4:45am This is incredible- In addition to the total darkness, the city is now filled with the calls to prayer- sparking the accompaniment of stray dogs who bark and howel to the night air. The occasional passing of swirling purple police lights is all that disturbs this perfect scene.

5:00am If I had a video camera, this would make a perfect pepsi or levi's commercial. The fog is lifting slowly- I sit in the street between the immese Aya Sofa and Blue Mosque one hundred feet to my left a stray dog barks and faces right- to 100 feet my right, the armed guard barks back at the dog- stomping his feel, playfully prompting response. On my walkman, Singing in the Rain has been followed by Somewhere over the Rainbow. Can you just see it in ¾ inch film. Oh, now the Sting 20's bar song is on- the calls to prayer are starting again and the fog horns are blearing- This is getting a little too cluttered. 5:20am This is bordering on ridiculous. The sky is getting blue as sunrise approaches- and I've made a new friend- a very large cream and black spotted mutt has walked to meet me. I pet him (with my glove as I could tell he was friendly- I have an instinct with animals) now he is curled up, sitting at my feet. I feel very safe now (even though the guard is gone). 5:30am

Question: where is my bus? Another question: why do I feel such camaraderie towards this stray dog lying at my feet in this bitter cold?

6:00am With the departure of night- my friend has just took my leave. The immergence of light has not effected my ability to see my breath. My body temp is way down.

6:10am My friend is back- there must be no bitches around. I can show him a couple if he'd like.

6:30am I can see why you see people talking to themselves in train stations all the time. I was talking to my dog- I turned around to put my walkman away and he was gone. The street cleaners are now out. I am losing my voice. Im freezing and upset. This is nuts. I've just spent the night in the street in Istanbul- where's my bus?