Istanbul, Turkey

The mega-city of Istanbul aka Byzantium aka Constantinople is a Muslim city at the cross-roads of Europe and Asia.  The land, inhabited since 660BC, is seeped in history of conquest and siege - with a skyline of ancient countless mosques and minarets contrasted against modern luxury cruise ships from Greece (half empty?) and neons lights from Taksim Square.  The city sprawls for as far as the eye can see, with houses built on the shoreline in every direction.  The majority of buildings are less that five stories, so you can see how a city of 20 million people extends to over 100km end to end.

Ken arranged for us to stay with a local couple in their apartment (an English girl and her Tanzanian husband).  Unbeknownst to us, their Beyoglu neighborhood turned out to be an ideal location near Taksim Square.  On our first night they took us out on the town -- to a Reggae club!  We danced all night -- the nightlife was enjoyable but odd because it was surprisingly 90% men (most of the women weren’t allowed).  

The daily calls to prayer over the loudspeakers immediately told us we were in an unfamiliar land, along with women cloaked in headscarfs (granted only a minority, as the country is proudly secular) and chain smoking men chain luring us into their storefronts.  The main phrase we had to learn in Turkish was “no thank you.”  This was demonstrated on the Prince’s Islands (an hour offshore from the mainland) where we were verbally accosted by waiters encouraging us to eat at their restaurants while shoving menus in our faces, such that we purposely selected the only restaurant that didn’t haggle us to come in. 

We hopped around the city (in the rain, unfortunately) seeing the classic sites: Grand Bazaar, Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, among others.  We found ourselves in the classic tourist trap of Sultanamet, where we were (unknowingly) lured into a carpet shop.  We assured the salesman that we did not want to buy anything and were brought in under false pretenses, but he would not take no for an answer -- and we ended up sitting there, drinking tea for 30 minutes, while we chatted about family and culture.

On the day Ken turned 35 we visited two continents and went to a traditional restaurant where we sat on floor pillows and took our shoes off before entering.  The service was chaotic (they couldn’t get anyone’s meal right and it took one hour to get the bill... “that’s sooo Turkish,” we were told later) but the food and ambiance were worth it.  Back at home we ate birthday cake to celebrate - well actually it was cheese cake with a tea light for a candle, but it was the best I could do (it was either that or baklava).

Even with the cold and rainy weather, we did a fair share of walking.  We lost ourselves along the slopes of Beyoglu (our neighborhood) with houses crammed together, random antique shops and corner stores, with wild cats and dogs roaming.  (Side note: Our friend Greg says he can judge the modernity of any city by the number and look of its wild mangy dogs... these weren’t terrible... definitely better than Bolivia).

Funny stories from the last week:

1.  Delivery of beer through the window: yes, this might be a Muslim country but the owner of the corner market literally walked across the street and hand delivered beer through the street-facing living room window.  We handed him some lira (money) in exchange.  The upstairs neighbors did the same thing but they lowered a basket (with money in it) tied to a rope and the beer was then raised to their third floor balcony.

2.  The street vendors (e.g., shoe shiners, street sweepers, guys selling corn on the cob)  in Taksim Square were actually undercover police.  This shocked us, especially since most of them could not have been more than 17 and were not particularly menacing.  

3.  After meeting an American financial executive in the Budapest airport lounge (and subsequently having a hilarious dinner with him and his wife in Istanbul)... he offered Ken a job... hmmm... not ready to quit our travels yet, but it just goes to show how opportunities come your way when you’re not looking!

4.  At the end of the Reggae dancing night I ended up with two salt shakers in my purse, with the obvious result of spilled white salt all over the interior of the bag.  (We now have salt permanently lodged in my camera, glasses, wallet, etc.)  After a few adult beverages we ordered durum kebabs at 5 am, and ironically Kayte (our host) said, “This is amazing but it needs some salt.”  I stealthily reached into my salt-filled purse and pinched salt onto her sandwich.  Classic.

Special thanks to our new friends Kayte and Eric for being such welcoming hosts for us over this last week.  These are friends we will treasure for many years to come.  Plus they introduced us to British comedian Michael McIntyre - we laughed so hard tears streamed down our faces and our stomachs ached with pain.