Days 1 & 2 - Welcome to Istanbul

Day 1

Brian: After 15 hours of flying we arrived in Istanbul safe and sound. Turkish Airways rocked. Dinner and breakfast, socks, eye masks, foot rests, on-demand movies/games... you name it, they had it.

Once we arrived, our driver, Dennis, was there to pick us up. As it turns out, Istanbul drivers are about five times more aggressive than Boston drivers. During the half-hour journey to the hotel, Dennis almost ran out of gas once (we were literally in neutral coasting down a hill to the gas station), and later on while Dennis was chatting on his cell phone, we almost got hit by a train. I think Kim had her eyes closed the rest of the journey

We are staying in Sultanahmet, or the old town, which is within walking distance of all the sights. Our hotel has a great view of Istanbul from the roof deck (where we ate breakfast the following morning). It was fairly late when we got in, but we decided to venture out for some food. We grabbed some Kebabs and met this nice couple from Isreal. The Kebabs were inexpensive, and really hit the spot.

Day 2

I was not able to sleep much last night, as my body was still in Atlanta time (I don't think we both fell asleep for good until after 5am). It doesn't help that the call to prayer starts blaring through huge megaphones around 4:30am from the Blue Mosque (right across the street from our hotel). Earplugs may be in order tonight.

Kim: After a restless night, we finally awakened at 10am. Even though we got a late start, we were able to see Sultanahment Camii (the Blue Mosque), Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, and the Hippodrome.

Hagia Sophia was awe inspiring, dating from the 5th century A.D. It was really interesting to see Islamic art and religious symbols next to Byzantine Christian mosaics. The church was converted to a mosque by the Ottoman Turks around the mid 1400s, and they plastered over all of the Christian mosaics. When Ataturk declared Hagia Sophia a museum in the 1930s, they began a restoration process that included uncovering some of the mosaics. This is all that is left of the most famous mosaic depicting Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist.

Besides sights, one of the more interesting things about Istanbul is the juxtaposition of East and West, tradition and modernity. Last night we were having beers with locals during the Islamic call to prayer, and today I saw a woman totally covered in a black head scarf (even her eyes), but carrying a Louis Vuitton bag. Turkey, and particularly Istanbul, is experiencing an interesting transition as it tries to positions itself as a modern European nation.

Brian - This evening we walked up to the Spice Bazaar. The number of spices on display is quite amazing. One thing that's tough for me to understand is how these vendors make money when competing with 50 other vendors selling the same spices. They certainly weren't shy about trying to get you to buy some. As much as we wanted to, Kim and I didn't really have a need for 1 kilo of paprika. However, I definitely had a need to try some turkish delight (lokum). It was... delightful!

Kim: After the spice bazaar, we walked across the Galata bridge and up to the Galata Tower for amazing views of the city. We took a time out for some pre-dinner drinks on what turned out to be our very own private terrace (a bar on top of a nearby hotel).

After a peaceful respite, we trekked uphill to Istiklal Caddesi, the main street of the new town. In this swanky area of the city, you're hard-pressed to find a headscarf in site, and shop after shop is evidence of booming consumerism. We chowed down on Turkish pizza and lamb shish kebab for dinner at Konak, and then headed back across the Golden Horn for bed.

Additional notes/thoughts:

- I was very happy to find out today that Turkish people know Georgia as the land of peanuts and Jimmy Carter.
- Turkey has lots of stray cats.
- Turkey blocks YouTube :( This is making it difficult to upload all our video clips... may have to wait for a country with less censorship.