Istanbul ! !

Finally, after three weeks of re-tracing previous travels, I have a new destination. I touched down in Istanbul at about 2:15pm on Friday. I immediately got ripped off on my shuttle ride from the airport to my hotel. I found this out after the fact, of course, and I intend to have words with the assholes when I pass back through the airport on my way out. I'll let you know how that goes.

So anyway, Muge dropped by my hotel after work and we took a cab to her mom's apartment on the Asia side of things. Here is Muge's family at dinner. She is out of the picture, and so is most of her mother. On the left is her younger brother, to his right is mom's boyfriend. Mom is telling a story about the kids she teaches at school. Her brother's facial expressions are great.



After dinner, some good 'ole American TV. Here is Muge speaking on her cellphone in Turkish. I love it. Yes, that is Will & Grace in the background...



I was falling asleep watching TV, so I accepted her mom's offer for me to sleep over. I took brother's bed, since he is living with the dad right now. In the morning Muge and I went for coffee at Starbuck's (yes, the are everywhere), walked around the neighborhood, and found a shop where I could buy a New York Times and some other English-language media. Eventually I took a cab back to my hotel. There I examined a couple of maps and planned to take Istanbul out for a test-walk. Below is the track I followed. Over 6 miles. Oh, yeah.



From the hotel I walked through Taksim Square and down the hill via a busy pedestrian street lined with shops and restaurants. It led me to the Galati Tower, below, and then to Galati Bridge, which crosses the Golden Horn to the classic center of Istanbul, you know, what was Constantinople.



I walked through the wooded grounds of Topkapi Palace, and then paid to walk through the palace itself, with all the other tourists. It was actually quite interesting, and I'm glad that I paid for the little self-tour audio gadget. I spent so much time there looking around that when I exited it was closing time, and Hagia Sophia was also closing, so I'll have to see it another day. The Grand Bazaar however, was open. It was a madhouse. I quickly walked through, caught my breath, and grabbed a cab back to my hotel. No more walking, thank you.



Left, Europe. Right, Asia.



Above is a model of the palace grounds.



Now that's en eff'n sword...



That night Muge came by again and we went to dinner at some place that there is no way I will ever be able to pronounce the name of, but it was good. Rooftop, very trendy and European. At any moment I expected Wesley Snipes to show up and start slaughtering vampires. It had that feel. After dinner we went out and met some of her friends and had a few drinks. It was very loud.

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