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Istanbul, Just Bar, June 6, 2010

Back to civilization, and what a civilization it is—an amazing mix of cultures, people and flavors. We’re staying in Sultanahmet, which is tourist central for sure, with easy access to many of the city’s famous sites. So, we’re surrounded by tourists, but the variety of nationalities and ages makes it all rather refreshing since we get to mingle with English, Germans, Norwegians, Spanish and yes, plenty of Americans. And the Turks are a very hospitable folk, so it seems easy to fit in and just relax as we wander around—a pleasant contrast to China, where we always seemed to stand out from the crowd, and Kenya, where on safari we felt pretty insulated from the everyday life of Kenyans.

Waking at dawn to the sound of the call to prayer has been a mixed blessing—it’s a beautiful sound, but our hotel room is about 30 feet from a minaret with loudspeakers so it is quite loud. And then we are within shouting distance of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, both of which are breathtaking in different ways, and the muezzin’s calls from the nearby mosque combine with those of the neighboring, larger mosques to create a rather unsynchronized summons to prayer.

The history of the Hagia Sophia as one of the great Christian cathedrals which was later turned into a magnificent mosque has created a monument that is unlike anything else we’ve seen. On the other hand, the Blue Mosque is not just a relic from the past, but is an active house of worship which is stunningly beautiful.

We hit the ground running and roamed the neighborhood, visited the mosques, lingered in the Topkapi Palace & Harem (especially over the religious relics of John the Baptist’s arm and skull and David’s sword), and then found a rooftop restaurant with a great sunset view. Followed that up the next day with the Grand Bazaar, a labyrinth of interconnected shops that can throw off even the best sense of direction. The selection of goods is mind boggling with everything from fine pottery to fabrics to leather and all sorts of goods in between, including belly dancing costumes, which Tom could not quite convince Robin to buy. Just couldn’t find the right color.

But we have had to break the one bag rule. Tomorrow we are off to the Bazaar again to buy another suitcase—just can’t pass up the beautiful platters, lamps and bowls.

The food here is amazing, and we are especially fond of the excellent appetizers they make, both hot and cold. We actually like them more than most of the main dishes we’ve had—next meal, it’s nothing but appetizers, lots of them. We also took a cooking class last night which was quite fun. Between the new serving dishes and recipes, we are looking forward to our first dinner party back home. May not even wait—those meeting us in Spain might be in for a treat.

Today was spent exploring other neighborhoods and just wandering, which we could do for many more days but, unfortunately, we don’t have more time. But this is now one of our favorite cities, an international crossroads where we both feel at home and in another world.