We walked out of the hotel into a blustery wind. A storm brought a strange mixture of warm air with cold, cold gusts and rain into the Golden Horn. It's a wet cold - a little like Seattle's - which is not altogether surprising given Istanbul is on a straight and inland bay between two seas. Locals tell us it's very humid in the summer and it basically remains humid in the fall and winter, only the temperature changes.
When there's not a storm, the typically gray mornings give way to sunny afternoons followed by cool evenings.
A few days ago, Emily was having trouble getting up and I said that with the gloomy, cold mornings it's harder to get out of bed than it was before (ie Patmos). As someone who has lived in both Seattle and Bangkok - where I could feel the heat of the sun pulsating through the concrete walls of my apartment - I know how much light and temperature play a part in getting going in the morning.
Later that day Emily told me how my comment got her to thinking about how much environment affects the way one lives and feels. She used to feel that if you're happy and leading the life you want, that things like weather and size of the town you live in aren't so important.
Going from Patmos to Istanbul in the span of three weeks made her reevaluate her stance. This cold, gray, autumn-time city couldn't be more different that sunny, warm, relaxed Patmos.
In Istanbul, walking between Taksim Square and Nisantasi, if you don't keep a brisk walk, people will pass you or bump you to the side of the sidewalk. It's the pedestrian freeway of Istanbul.
It feels like we're always chasing our transportation. If you want to make the next tram, you have to hurry because the stops are short. The train you're connecting to leaves in less than a minute after you arrive. When there's a break in the cars at an intersection or crosswalk, you have to make a bold and decisive move across the street. Istanbul's transportation is efficient, fast and furious. If we had a dollar for every time i said "We have to hustle!" to Emily, it would pay for this trip. Istanbul is not for the faint of heart.
Compare it to Patmos where walking from your beach chair to the beachside cafe to buy a bottle of water was hustling, and you can see the shock. A month in Patmos turned us soft like butter. Istanbul wants to toughen us like leather.
While neither one of these places is what we want for our real life (okay, Patmos kinda' is...but not really...but kinda'...because there would be something wrong with us if it weren't....), the contrast between waking up to glorious sun bursting through our French doors versus the dull, pale light leaking through our window brings to light something more than light. Where you live affects how you feel which shapes your entire attitude toward your day. Lifestyle matters. At least it does for us.
Today we are going to harness the power of the storm to turn our laziness into efficiency. Heavy rains and blustery winds leave us wanting to go nowhere. The trams get so packed in the rain that yesterday a woman was leaning her full body weight against me for stability while other people were pinned up against walls and rails. We'll skip that today.
Instead, we'll turn our desire to stay in and curl up in bed into a work day that involves no commute, no exploring, no rain - just comfort. The best Internet we get in Istanbul is right in our hotel. So, we'll work in bed and at the restaurant around the corner when we get hungry. It may be slothful in one sense, but at the same time, we'll start working earlier than usual and have fewer distractions.
Besides, the great thing about our urban hotel is that it has the best bed we've had so far. With four days left until Nepal - where the very definition of mattress is up for question - spending a little more time with our mattress sounds like a great idea.
When there's not a storm, the typically gray mornings give way to sunny afternoons followed by cool evenings.
A few days ago, Emily was having trouble getting up and I said that with the gloomy, cold mornings it's harder to get out of bed than it was before (ie Patmos). As someone who has lived in both Seattle and Bangkok - where I could feel the heat of the sun pulsating through the concrete walls of my apartment - I know how much light and temperature play a part in getting going in the morning.
Later that day Emily told me how my comment got her to thinking about how much environment affects the way one lives and feels. She used to feel that if you're happy and leading the life you want, that things like weather and size of the town you live in aren't so important.
Going from Patmos to Istanbul in the span of three weeks made her reevaluate her stance. This cold, gray, autumn-time city couldn't be more different that sunny, warm, relaxed Patmos.
In Istanbul, walking between Taksim Square and Nisantasi, if you don't keep a brisk walk, people will pass you or bump you to the side of the sidewalk. It's the pedestrian freeway of Istanbul.
It feels like we're always chasing our transportation. If you want to make the next tram, you have to hurry because the stops are short. The train you're connecting to leaves in less than a minute after you arrive. When there's a break in the cars at an intersection or crosswalk, you have to make a bold and decisive move across the street. Istanbul's transportation is efficient, fast and furious. If we had a dollar for every time i said "We have to hustle!" to Emily, it would pay for this trip. Istanbul is not for the faint of heart.
Compare it to Patmos where walking from your beach chair to the beachside cafe to buy a bottle of water was hustling, and you can see the shock. A month in Patmos turned us soft like butter. Istanbul wants to toughen us like leather.
While neither one of these places is what we want for our real life (okay, Patmos kinda' is...but not really...but kinda'...because there would be something wrong with us if it weren't....), the contrast between waking up to glorious sun bursting through our French doors versus the dull, pale light leaking through our window brings to light something more than light. Where you live affects how you feel which shapes your entire attitude toward your day. Lifestyle matters. At least it does for us.
Today we are going to harness the power of the storm to turn our laziness into efficiency. Heavy rains and blustery winds leave us wanting to go nowhere. The trams get so packed in the rain that yesterday a woman was leaning her full body weight against me for stability while other people were pinned up against walls and rails. We'll skip that today.
Instead, we'll turn our desire to stay in and curl up in bed into a work day that involves no commute, no exploring, no rain - just comfort. The best Internet we get in Istanbul is right in our hotel. So, we'll work in bed and at the restaurant around the corner when we get hungry. It may be slothful in one sense, but at the same time, we'll start working earlier than usual and have fewer distractions.
Besides, the great thing about our urban hotel is that it has the best bed we've had so far. With four days left until Nepal - where the very definition of mattress is up for question - spending a little more time with our mattress sounds like a great idea.
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