Istanbul, it's not Constantinople

My latest and greatest adventure had me fly around the world to see the Black Sea and explore the city of Istanbul. This city is unique in the fact that it spreads over two continents and over the Bosporus. It is a charming and interesting city with wonderfully friendly people and many great things to eat. 

Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country. Officially it is secular, but the population mostly practices Islam. The mosques are beautiful, and I was able to go into a couple of them. The call to prayer is heard five times a day and it's a beautiful sound. It's one of those city's sounds, like Big Ben, or police sirens in Boston. It's a familiar regularity.  The smell of roasted chestnuts is everywhere!  

I wanted to come to this specific place because of the water way, the fact that it crosses two continents, and the amazing foods. There was ice cream, frozen yogurt, and baklava everywhere. 

I found mosques and old buildings. I found the grand Bazaar, which has been operational since before Columbus sailed to the new world. I found a public high school in the middle of the city that looked like a mansion. It was built by the French and given to Turkey as a gift. 

I also made a new friend. My friend Heather's brother, Michael, lives in this amazing city. His wife, Ece, is Turkish and grew up in this fascinating place. She amazed me when she drove through traffic I would never dare to attempt. Michael is a musician, and we went through lots of stores with musical instruments, a man even played a bunch of them for us. I learned about a lot of different musical instruments that day. 

There were so many things I did not get to see and I'm grateful for the things I did get to see. It was an extremely short trip and with the time difference it made it difficult to get out and about. Michael was extremely helpful and I wouldn't have seen as much as I did without his amazing helpfulness. 

I decided on the last night I stayed to take a commuter ferry over to the Asian side. Just so I could see Asia and say I've been there. That was interesting. 

The city is full of graffiti, trash, and stray animals, despite this, it is charming and not nearly as frightening as I thought it would be. It seems the Turkish have their priorities in line, they take care of each other, they take care of the animals, who are like tiny furry citizens. Everything else is an afterthought. They are kind and pleasant and willing to explain things, even when you don't speak their language (google translate was an excellent resource in this place). It was a wonderful visit; I wish I had more time or a traveling companion. It was definitely a place to revisit and explore more.