So long Istanbul

9.26.12
We are sitting in another bus station waiting on another night bus. We spent the last 6 days in Istanbul and now we are on our way to Goreme, Cappodocia, Turkey.

We had a great time in Istanbul. Tom is totally in love with the people and the city. He made several friends while we were there and by the time we left they called him brother as they pounded their fists over their hearts. One was a guy who started out by giving Tom a hard time about his hat the first time we walked past his restaurant. Tom was good natured about it and soon they were the best of friends. We had to walk by that restaurant every time we came or went from our hostel, so that meant a minimum of 4 times each day. The two of them greeted each other enthusiastically each time and stopped to chat for a few minutes. Soon Tom was being introduced to his friends. The other was a young guy who pretty much ran the hostel we were in. His uncle owned the place but Redwon was the only one who really spoke English. He and Tom really liked each other and one afternoon we hung out for an hour or so in the hostel common area and chatted with Redwon about the Turkish people. We learned a lot about the way they think and behave. Much of it is of course based on the teachings of the Koran. One of the pillars of the Muslim faith is to help others. We experienced this first hand over and over while in Istanbul. People were constantly offering help to us and instead of pointing in the direction of some location, they would often walk us there or at least walk as far as necessary to be sure we knew where we were going. We really enjoyed and admire the Turkish people as we have experienced them so far.

While in Istanbul we saw the Blue Mosque,the Hagia Sofia the Topkapi Palace (all inside and out). We went to see the cisterns (the ancient underground water supply for all of Istanbul ) and we wandered around the new part of Istanbul which is on the Asian side of the city. We ate/drank great street goodies like fresh squeezed orange juice and fresh squeezed pomegranate juice. We ate Simiti (sort of like a soft round pretzel) and pastries, kepbaps (lamb, cooked right in front of us) and Turkey's special ice cream called "Maras Dondurma" (more on this later).

We took a day off from city life and got on a ferry that took us to the Prince's Islands. They are islands right off Istanbul on the Sea of Marmara. We went to the main island and after enjoying an ear of fresh roasted corn, I went for a swim in the Sea. After my swim (with the jellyfish!) we went and ate lunch at a seaside restaurant. We enjoyed watching the jellyfish and fish swim by, and of course what is island life without a flock of annoying seagulls.

We are anxious to move on to a new destination but this also means we are quickly nearing the end of our travels (for this time). We still have a week left, which is actually 20% of our entire trip, however compared to the time that has passed, it seems so short. I will actually really miss the 5X daily call to prayer from the mosques!