We made it home safe and sound… just ahead of Hurricane Irene’s march up the eastern seaboard. As I was thinking back on the week this morning while trying to hold my ‘standing head to knee’ pose in yoga, I realized there were a few fun snippets I hadn’t shared in the blog. I hope you enjoy these outtakes from the trip.
By the Numbers
2 – ‘genuine fake’ Louis Vuitton bags (plus one pair of LV sunglasses) 
2 – beautiful leather coats
4 – cups of Turkish coffee (2 @ local Starbucks posts)
5 – Turkish baths (2 for me; 3 for Lee)
5 – attempts to find the perfect Baklava
6 – modes of transportation used: plane, ferry, taxi, tram, and bus (public transportation and tour)
8 – rugs purchased (4 for each of us, including: 2 Ottoman, 2 Usak, 1 Tashpinar, 1 Anatolian, 1 Konya, 1 Buhara)
100s – whirling dervish, pomegranate, and tulip images
2,000+ – mosques in Istanbul
11,519 – round-trip miles on Delta
Countless – stray cats fed; glasses of black tea consumed; persistent shopkeepers ignored
Superlatives
Best ‘surprise’ venue… Chora Church
Best baklava… a free sample from a sweet kid in a side street shop (we were lost, trying to find our way back to the hotel)
Mantra… “The universe will provide”
Best view… The terrace restaurant in our hotel (Marmara Sea on one side; spires of the Blue Mosque on the other)
Most enjoyable bazaar… Egyptian Spice Bazaar (crazy-fun shopkeepers)
Most productive bazaar… Grand Bazaar
Most decadent moment… summer tea at the House Café in Ortakoy
Biggest food surprise… amazing yogurt in Kanlica (the “talk about for days” kind of amazing)
Wouldn’t bother doing again… Taksim Square and Istiklal Street (‘big city’ shopping is not authentic or unique, so not much fun)
Most amazing site… Hagia Sophia, hands-down
Unplanned/Unexpected purchase… leather coat (lambskin… feels like a silk jacket)
Most fun local scene… Hippodrome crowds on Sunday night at breaking of the fast
Turkish Coffee
On Monday we enjoyed a lovely lunch at Topkapi Palace in a cafe overlooking the beeeeeeautiful Bosphorus Sea. After lunch we ordered a Turkish coffee to celebrate our first day soaking in the Istanbul sites. The coffee was (as expected) absolutely nasty — harsh, bitter, and gritty. I love strong coffee, but this was a 45 on a scale of 1-10. Anyway — ever the competitive one, I raced to finish my cup before Lee finished hers. I thought I would absolutely choke on the last drink — it was like swallowing wet dirty sand. I goaded Lee to finish hers, but with no luck – she bailed. Not long after that, our tour guide (‘Fabulous Funda’) circled back to pick us up to finish the tour. She was duly impressed that we had embraced Turkish coffee… until she saw that I had finished my entire cup and then she couldn’t stop laughing. As it turns out, the proper way to drink Turkish coffee is to let it sit a few minutes to let the grounds settle to the bottom… and then you only drink the top (liquid-liquid) portion of the cup. Uggggh. (Note – subsequent cups at Starbucks were far more bearable, now that I know the proper technique for enjoying a cup of Turkish coffee.)
Act like a local, get offered a smoke
On Sunday night, I was shopping for a Turkish carpet. I knew of “apple tea” from my past trip to Istanbul, but had read online that if you really want to impress the locals you should ask for Turkish (black) tea. I wanted to test it out when the carpet guy offered me the obligatory cup of apple tea… so I asked if I could instead have a cup of black tea. He raised an eyebrow and then asked his shop assistant to get both of us some black tea. When our tea arrived, he reached into his jacket and handed me a pack of cigarettes. Apparently the classic “Turkish break” is a cup of black tea and a cigarette. He was so impressed I ordered black tea that he just assumed I would want a cigarette as well.
“Cat Father”
I took a few packs of cat food and enjoyed feeding kitties at the various locations we visited. Still, at the end of the trip I was left with a few unused packs of cat food. I can’t throw things away; we were raised not to waste things. Since I had successfully used the cat food a few days before to lure a cat who snuck into the hotel lobby back outside, I thought the hotel staff might like to have the extra cat food. When I took the little packs to the lobby attendant and explained what they were, he told me that he had the perfect place for it… he explained that one of the security guards is a “cat father” and would put it to good use. “Cat Father” … cute.
Best Salesmen on the Planet
It seems everyone is trying to engage you in conversation, ultimately to invite you into their shop/restaurant or ask if you’d like to see some carpets at their uncle/cousin/brother’s shop. These conversation starters usually take the form of a question, and once you answer they have hooked you. (After a while you learn to just completely ignore the questions and keep walking.) 90% of the questions start with “where are you from?” When you ignore people, they begin to guess… “America? France?” These guys get creative after a while – my favorite was the guy trying to persuade Lee to choose his café for lunch – ‘Where you from? …. (pause while Lee ignored him) … Victoria’s Secret?” 🙂