greetngs from istanbul

Greetings from Istanbul

I am blogging from an internet cafe; why, what do you do when you're

on vacation? I am finding the punctuation keys on this keyboard a tad

challenging to find though, so I may give up on them in a minute. So

yeah, I am in Istanbul with my sister and grandparents. Traveling in

this combination is a unique experience, because I am rarely in the

middle of any age range, and also because these are all people that I

love and wish I could spend more time with. My sister asked me

yesterday if I sometime still think of her as a baby that I need to

take care of, and I told her that I don't think of her as a baby, but

that I do try to take care of her. (By the way, when she was a baby,

my favorite hobby was plotting her demise.) I have only began to think

of Anat as a potential peer in the last few years, and in that

respect, I am still getting to know her. My grandparents, on the other

hand, have been a part of my life since I was born, but I have

recently began to wonder how much time I have left to spend with them,

and whether I am making the most of it. Unfortunately, despite being

geographically closer to them than I have been since I was 12 years

old, I do not get to spend nearly as much time with them as I would

like. So, any-way, the point is that this vacation is very special.

We traveled to Istanbul on a package of a charter flight and hotel.

There are organized trips offered as an optional addition. Normally, I

would not advocate for participating in an organized tour, but in this

case, it was perfect. My grandmother is able to see a lot more with a

lot less walking around than she would if we were on our own, my

grandfather feels less pressure to organize every detail of every

second, and we are all a lot less stressed. The main problems with the

group tours is that it is hard to take photos while moving in a group

large enough to fill a tour bus, and that the explanations have in

general revolved more around where Israeli soccer players who moved to

Turkey live than around historical or geographical background.

I don't know whether this is due to my general illiteracy and

ignorance or due to the fact that I have been conditioned to regard

Tel Aviv as a large city, but I was really surprised that Istanbul is

this huge. I am not sure what I was expecting; it does span two

continents after all! The city in general is full of juxtapositioned

contradictions: old and new, fancy buildings and trash littering the

streets, $60 million seaside villa prosperity and begging in the

street with your offspring napping in your lap poverty, modern looking

businessman and their traditionally-dressed Muslim wives.

Okay, here are some things we saw and did:

Day 1:

Blue Mosque: I was not able to take good photos inside because of the

light and crowds were both challenging, but you can see some at the

link above. This mosque was apparently built to outdo the Ayasofia,

which my grandfather insists is not to be missed, so maybe I will take

better photos there. I am posting some photos related to feet that I

took on the way out though. (The toes in the first photo are Anat's.)

Bosphorus Ferry Boat Cruise

This was a very scenic tour of various historical palaces and modern

day villas and yachts. The tour guides talked non-stop, quoting the

prices of every recent relevant real estate transaction, and also

about the laws governing the upkeep of historic sites. I tried to

block them out, and was more fascinated by the large jelly fish

swimming in the very clear water. In Tel Aviv, we think of them as a

seasonal beachside annoyance, but in this cotext, they were very

graceful and unique little propellers.

I managed to get one photo with Anat before she passed out:

And here is the big baby enjoying the cruise:

And finally, a couple of photos from along the way:

The cruise ended in a supposed fishing village, where we had lunch at

a very touristy but nonetheless delicious fish restaurant. We were

seated right by the water, and the highlight (for me) was when a big

cargo ship passed by, creating a wave that took maybe two minutes to

build up and reach the shore, finally breaking on the side of the

restaurant and soaking the people who stompeded out of the bus to get

the best seats. Heh.

Grand Bazaar

After lunch, we continued to the Grand Bazaar, which is a covered

market, allegedly containing over 4000 shops.

Along with the touristy staples of knockoff designer handbags, Polo

shirts, and overpriced jeans, we saw some really unique handpainted

ceramics, and (probably mass-produced but still uniquely beautiful)

glass lamps.

Dinner

We had dinner at Kumkapi, a touristy but cute street that features

musicians that go from table to table playing traditional music. It

was basic overpriced tourist-fare with aggressive salesmen in front of

each restaurant, and essentially identical picture menus, but we took

some great photos and had a great time.

Random Musings and TMI

After dinner, Anat and I came to the same internet cafe where I am

typing this now. I was typing an e-mail, feeling particulaly

iliterate, when suddenly I remembered that I generally have a hard

time uhm... digesting when I get to a new place. I reached for my

purse, and my trusted Lope.ramide (Im.modium), and then further

remembered that I used up my supplies getting stressed out about the

boards. Panic ensued as Anat and I searched the streets for a

pharmacy. They were all closed, but here is a photo of one of the

storefront windows.

Odd display of oversized Vi.agra boxes and my very favorite footwear,

doncha think? When we returned in the morning, the helpful pharmacist

explained that prescription requirements are much looser in Turkey,

allowing pharmacies to better cater to tourists. After selling me my

way cheap goods, he asked me if he could also interest me in the

antibiotic of my choice, or perhaps a mild antidepressant? Okay, that

brings us to today.

Day 2:

We took another ferry boat to one of the Princes Islands in the sea of

Marmara. Anat enjoyed the second boat trip as much as the first:

The islands serve primarily as resort towns, and their natural beauty

is enhanced by the fact that no cars are allowed. We took a horse

carriage tour before searching for a restaurant that offered chicken

soup for lunch.

After this, we were supposed to have a tour of Baghdad Street, which

is where the fancy stores in Istanbul are apparently located. We

misunderstood and thought we would be getting off the bus at this

destination, so Anat and I got excited counting the 7 Starbucks we

passed. (I have not tasted this heavenly nectar in months!) To our

disappointment though, we merely passed by on the bus. Counting is

fun, but I hope we didn't drive too much out of the way to do it. A

disadvantage of the group tour is that I never really know where we

are. (An advantage of the group tour is that I have a convenient

excuse for not knowing where I am!)

Egyptian Market

The Egyptian Market is mostly a spice, nut, and candy market. It is a

lot more authentic than the Grand Bazaar, but is still mobbed with

tourists. This is a photo of a gourmet store where Anat and I bought

some apple juice and shared a bagel with cream cheese. Shopping for

authentic spices is not really our scene.

Miscellaneous

There are cow parade posters everywhere, but I have yet to find a

mooer. I am a big fan of this cheesy urban art, so I am on the

lookout.

Here is the tram at the Taksit area where we are staying. Supposedly

this is a tourist attraction, but dude, I have been to (the much more