The Month of June, Part II: Istanbul

Emilie and I arrived in Istanbul on the morning of the 10^th of June. We had no idea where we were going to stay, but were able to find an information desk and receive directions to the “touristy” part of town. We climbed the hill from the train station completely enthralled just by the fact that we were actually in Turkey and really had absolutely no idea what to expect from this place. Besides the hairs that Emilie found on her hostel bed sheets, I don’t think there was a single thing we didn’t like about our stay in Istanbul. And we have at least 115 new Turkish friends, as the host of each restaurant we passed was quick to call out, “My friends, my friends. I have some good food for you.” Of course, you had to pay, but the food was definitely there for us if we had the resources. We quickly came up with clever strategies for politely denying the host’s offers, but eventually had to use distraction tactics to get ourselves away from the over-friendly recruiters. As we politely said no to one such man and continued to walk down the street, he called after us in a pleading tone but with a harsh Turkish accent, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey.”

I could not get over the beauty of the many mosques spread throughout Istanbul. If you are not used to the architectural style and the colossal size of so many of these structures, the mosques are endlessly impressive and thrilling. The reverent spirit of devotion, humility, and faith that we witnessed in the prayer rooms was striking and unique. The museums were great, the parks were great, the people were great, the food was great, the markets were okay, the Turkish syrupy doughnuts were great, but the mosques—the mosques were awesome.

On our last day, we took an afternoon ferry ride out to Princes Islands. The scenery and view of the city was gorgeous as we crossed the water, sitting with our feet up at the front of the boat, staring at the mosques silhouetted on the hill, and watching the ferry staff carry platters of Turkish tea around to all the passengers. The island we decided to explore only allows horses or bicycles for transportation, and the resulting contrast in atmosphere with that of the big city was stunning. But after Emilie was attacked by bugs and, inadvertently, a man with knives, we decided to head back to the familiarity of our Istanbul hostel and “friends.”

[Our day's supply of Coca Cola rolling by.]