At one point today, after 100k or so and with a long way yet to ride,
we saw an old man floating quietly in the beautiful blue water of an
inlet beneath us. Looking at his serenity, then back at us, caked in
sweat and with more to come, Jesse's comment was "maybe he knows
something we don't." Amen to that.
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Highlights of the day included taking a swim in the Aegean from a
secluded beach, finishing the day out with a 40km "time trial" in the
final hour (Jesse wishes all to know that he was "strong like bull",
doing all the work), and watching Jesse order a pina colada without
even a hint of irony.
We're now in Xanthi - no idea where we'll end up tomorrow, but I
suspect it will be a long way down the road.
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While there I found myself no longer the only tourist in town, and had
to deal with the tourist hoardes and their ever-snapping camera
fingers. Haghia Sophia was full of them, the Blue Mosque moreso; in
the latter I overheard one American ask his tour guide "so the Koran
is basically the same as the old testament, right?"
Looking beyond the tourists, it was a fun experience, and the Rustem
Pasha mosque as recommended by Trish was a nice antidote to the other
tourist-packed attractions. I caught up with Mehmet and Asli, old
friends from BCG in NY, who took me out for a fabulous dinner on the
Bosphorus.
And then Jesse arrived, causing further bafflement to the
already-bemused staff at the W Istanbul. Having seen me roll in on a
bicycle and not known whether to park the thing or have me ejected,
the arrival of a second bearded bicycling ruffian entertained them no
end. I am reasonably certain that the W has not played host to bike
tourists thus far, and I'd be willing to bet that it will be some time
before it does so again! This is a shame, however, since Cem the
concierge is a total legend who moonlights as a logistical planner for
foreign bike touring groups, so he really knows his stuff.
Today we had a slow start, but made up for it with 180k after lunch,
putting us right on the Greek border. Tomorrow morning we'll turn
right, go about 500m and then enter the border formalities.
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