When I was 12, my family moved to Valparaiso, Indiana. Locals like to call it “Valpo”. It’s not an exciting place, but it was named after Valparaíso, Chile, which Chileans also like to call “Valpo”. Naturally, one of the first places I wanted to visit in Chile was Valpo.
Tbilisi, Georgia. No, the country. Not the state.
Yes, there is a country called Georgia. And it’s much much more interesting than the state.
Konya is one of those cities that seems to get overlooked a lot. It isn’t a beautiful city by any means and is regarded as the most conservative city in Turkey. Many people also think the only draw is the tomb of Rumi. That’s not entirely true, but it’s definitely the biggest draw and the reason most tour buses roll through the area (and the top reason I went).
I did it! I rode the Marmaray. In under 5 minutes, I crossed the Bosporus in a tunnel and avoided certain death. Seriously, at the other end I was expecting to get an “I Survived the Marmaray!” t-shirt. At the very least they could’ve given me a cookie.
