It seemed the three geese at the gas station wanted to say goodbye to us. On our last stop at a gas station in Turkey they were looking to cool down bathing in gas drenched puddles. Instead of "good bye" I would prefer a "See you soon", because I hoped this wasn't our last time in Turkey. The short stay in Istanbul left a deep impression in all of us. Entering Istanbul, the first stop at a gas station showed us the hospitality of the people of this country, this city. The owner greeted us and when he noticed we weren't from around here, he invited us to a cup of tea which we had to decline due to the time we didn't have. It was only about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, but Istanbul is as big as a small country. Now, it was Florian's time to shine. He had to lead the way to the venue through this incredible maze of streets. Christian gave everything to drive the van through extremely small roads, insane traffic, people on the street, and countless traffic jams. When we arrived at the venue after more than two hours, the owner of the club greeted us. The Rock'n'Rolla club was perfect in size. The stage was a little higher and a big metal rod divided the band and the crowd. After a short time Tanju, who invited us to Istanbul, arrived. He knew exactly what we needed: Food, Drinks, and a nice bed for the night. We had to park the van 200 meters away from the venue as the road to the van was to small and to steep. With the help of some nice people it didn't take long to get the backline into the venue. After that, Chris drove with Tanju to a secure parking spot. There was still lots of time left so we checked into our hostel, which was only 2 minutes away from the venue face to face with an erotic shop. Here we had some time to take a shower, go online or just gobber(!) around.
We went back for the sound check and some sandwiches, Christian provided us with some expensive nuts, but when it comes to the well-being of the band, no price is too high for him!
Tanju showed us a great place to get some local food, Questions instead decided to do some sightseeing. We ate way too much until everyone of us felt sick, but it was just too good.
The show was supposed to start at 9. Tanju printed really cool tickets with the logos of the bands and a small drawing of Edu and Christian. Everything was organized really well, however not too many people showed up until 9. So we waited until 9:30 . Chris tried to heat up the crowd as usual but had a really hard time doing so. Later there was some dispute about Christians choice of words. Florian wasn't really convinced that the things Christian said would really motivate the crowd. But, as usual, we gave it all and could convince some people to dance.
After the back line was back in the van, we split apart: Christian and Shitboy wanted to practice their beloved nudism and went straight back to the hostel while Florian and me walked through the city with a coke in our hand and some lires in our pocket. Questions continued their sightseeing tour and later that night we met everybody again back at the hostel.
We got up around 8 because their was some unfinished business. We crossed the Bosporus and touched Asian soil. Chris took a shit in the bushes and 5 minutes later we crossed the Bosporus again and were back in Europe. Next stop Greece. We said goodbye to the Geese and "See you again" to wonderful Turkey.
Bianca