Travels in and about Istanbul

Ok... so I have finally found an English layout keyboard and feel a little better about posting. Although, I still cannot find the apostrophe... ergo the cannot. In any case, our travels in Athens were brief at best. Upon climbing up to the Acropolis in 112 degree weather, we found out that the entire historical tourism department was on strike for the only day were were in Athens. So, frustrated, we walked down the hill, canceled our reservation, and walked to the train station. We were assured by the porter that our train from athens to Salonica would arrive in time to board the night train to Istanbul leaving at about 11pm. Well informed as he was, he was absolutely right. We arrived around 9pm. However, the 11 o'clock train to Istanbul doesn't actually exist (found it!). So we needed to find a room. The best we could find was a hotel in the stripclub district, seemingly very close to the lawnmower parts district, for about 40 Euros. We finally took showers and slept in real beds. (It had been about 48 hours since we had slept in anything but a chair). The next morning we made reservations for the next train to Istanbul... around 8pm. So we waited in the station with our luggage for about 8-9 hours in the over-a-hundred-degree heat. The train ride was fairly uneventful except for the border check, which was truly Kafkaesque. The Americans and only the Americans were taken off the train at 4AM to be processed for entry. In my haste I left my shoes on the train and ended up shoeless before the immigration officers. The fun began when everyone attempted to pay the 15 euro fee with a 50. Having limited change, the officer attempted to offer me ten british pounds in change. I replied in a 90% sleep filled state... "I'm not really going to England" To which he responded with a facial expression I can only describe as extreme dissapointment. For the next ten minutes everyone traded money with one another until the officer was satisfied that none of us had any clue how much money we had. His job done, he smiled and told us we could get back on the train. Little did he know that we actually came out about 15 Euros ahead. US:1 Turkey:0 Well, more to come! I'll update again soon! I have to get on a boat to go up the Bospurus!