We were like Peaches and Herb. Only Peaches was wearing a 49.5 pound backpack and had just flown around the world and Herb was really tired from getting in to Istanbul at 1am. But it still feels so good....
We spent our evening catching up and being happy. Emily opened her presents from France. I had to get her things that she might have gotten herself had she been there. And then it was time to crash. We were both exhausted.
In our reunion, we chose to mostly ignore the fact that we're in Istanbul. Internalizing being in Istanbul and reuniting are just too much to absorb at the same time. So we stayed on the street our hotel is on which is a cute, but touristy street. Everything felt fairly normal.
Today, we go out bravely into Istanbul - our first real exploration.
I had a day of waiting for Emily and in the time began observing and picking up a few things. Firstly, there's nothing that really prepares you for Istanbul. It's not European, it's not Asian and it's not Middle Eastern. It has some aspects of all of these, but it is something else altogether.
Istanbul is hard. After coming from some of the softer places in the world, it's jarring. It feels to me like Taipei in the way it's neither third world nor first. The shock of Istanbul is that for a city with well over a thousand years of history, it is filled with cruddy 20th century buildings. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Turks began destroying and burning down many of the beautiful old homes and buildings only to replace them with brick and later, cement block structures a la every third world country out there.
This is so much so that on our first day in Turkey in July when we headed to Alanya, I wondered where the thousands of years of history went...I didn't see any old buildings or monuments as we went from Istanbul to the Mediterranean coast.
Istanbul is a strange mix of old, new and run down. It has a beautiful new train system running right past our hotel. I used it to get to the airport for only $2 and it was very well used since it passes through numerous neighborhoods and districts. Within these areas, you see everything from beautiful hotels and malls to apartment buildings which, although probably no more than sixty years old, need to be condemned.
Things work a little differently here. To get on the light rail tram, you need a token. But the tram station doesn't sell tokens. Stores nearby the station do - but only one or two. You have to know which one, which just means walking up to stores, asking and being pointed in the right direction. Totally surmountable - but different....
And then there's the social ambiguity. Turkey is a Muslim country kinda' sorta'. It is predominantly Muslim, but with a large, government encouraged atheist and non-religious population. So, while it lives in a backdrop on beautiful old mosques and a history of being proudly Muslim under the Ottomans, today it has a mix of cultural mores. You see plenty of women with headscarves and conservative dresses, but also those who match most of the women walking down the streets of New York or Paris.
I have read that public affection between men and women should be avoided. On the tram, I was surprised to see couples holding hands, interlocking arms, kissing in a few cases and standing and talking intimately. There was a lot of affection for a crowded tram in any city. So, while I have no desire for Emily and I to test the waters, it seems that perhaps Istanbul is socially in flux.
Streets are chaotic. The city has no real center. The old buildings are absolutely gorgeous. We look down the street from out hotel and the Golden Horn sitting flush full of ships sprawls out before us. One of the world's great harbors - coveted highly throughout history - is bustling with life, business and sending fresh air into the city.
While we are both excited to explore this fascinating and very different city, I find myself mildly mourning France. Had we come from Greece and never headed West, Istanbul would still have been a change, but somehow a little more in keeping.
Coming from comfortable, convenient, orderly, genteel, cultured, beautiful southern France I find myself shocked - especially when people walk right at me. People here don't seem to subscribe to the "excuse me, move to the side" system. Nor do they subscribe to the don't walk into each other convention. It's every man for himself on the streets and sidewalks of Istanbul, so you have to watch other people's trajectories.
I've lost my wonderful walking culture, beautiful French language, cultured surroundings, cafes, patisseries and Mediterranean sunsets. But I regained my beautiful wife, who lights up my heart. So, with that - we'll venture out into the streets of Istanbul and try to understand this unique culture without getting hit by a person.
Our airplanes dropped us off at the furthest edge of Europe. It will be up to us to literally walk into Asia as is fitting for the last stop in our Mediterranean phase of this journey.
We spent our evening catching up and being happy. Emily opened her presents from France. I had to get her things that she might have gotten herself had she been there. And then it was time to crash. We were both exhausted.
In our reunion, we chose to mostly ignore the fact that we're in Istanbul. Internalizing being in Istanbul and reuniting are just too much to absorb at the same time. So we stayed on the street our hotel is on which is a cute, but touristy street. Everything felt fairly normal.
Today, we go out bravely into Istanbul - our first real exploration.
I had a day of waiting for Emily and in the time began observing and picking up a few things. Firstly, there's nothing that really prepares you for Istanbul. It's not European, it's not Asian and it's not Middle Eastern. It has some aspects of all of these, but it is something else altogether.
Istanbul is hard. After coming from some of the softer places in the world, it's jarring. It feels to me like Taipei in the way it's neither third world nor first. The shock of Istanbul is that for a city with well over a thousand years of history, it is filled with cruddy 20th century buildings. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Turks began destroying and burning down many of the beautiful old homes and buildings only to replace them with brick and later, cement block structures a la every third world country out there.
This is so much so that on our first day in Turkey in July when we headed to Alanya, I wondered where the thousands of years of history went...I didn't see any old buildings or monuments as we went from Istanbul to the Mediterranean coast.
Istanbul is a strange mix of old, new and run down. It has a beautiful new train system running right past our hotel. I used it to get to the airport for only $2 and it was very well used since it passes through numerous neighborhoods and districts. Within these areas, you see everything from beautiful hotels and malls to apartment buildings which, although probably no more than sixty years old, need to be condemned.
Things work a little differently here. To get on the light rail tram, you need a token. But the tram station doesn't sell tokens. Stores nearby the station do - but only one or two. You have to know which one, which just means walking up to stores, asking and being pointed in the right direction. Totally surmountable - but different....
And then there's the social ambiguity. Turkey is a Muslim country kinda' sorta'. It is predominantly Muslim, but with a large, government encouraged atheist and non-religious population. So, while it lives in a backdrop on beautiful old mosques and a history of being proudly Muslim under the Ottomans, today it has a mix of cultural mores. You see plenty of women with headscarves and conservative dresses, but also those who match most of the women walking down the streets of New York or Paris.
I have read that public affection between men and women should be avoided. On the tram, I was surprised to see couples holding hands, interlocking arms, kissing in a few cases and standing and talking intimately. There was a lot of affection for a crowded tram in any city. So, while I have no desire for Emily and I to test the waters, it seems that perhaps Istanbul is socially in flux.
Streets are chaotic. The city has no real center. The old buildings are absolutely gorgeous. We look down the street from out hotel and the Golden Horn sitting flush full of ships sprawls out before us. One of the world's great harbors - coveted highly throughout history - is bustling with life, business and sending fresh air into the city.
While we are both excited to explore this fascinating and very different city, I find myself mildly mourning France. Had we come from Greece and never headed West, Istanbul would still have been a change, but somehow a little more in keeping.
Coming from comfortable, convenient, orderly, genteel, cultured, beautiful southern France I find myself shocked - especially when people walk right at me. People here don't seem to subscribe to the "excuse me, move to the side" system. Nor do they subscribe to the don't walk into each other convention. It's every man for himself on the streets and sidewalks of Istanbul, so you have to watch other people's trajectories.
I've lost my wonderful walking culture, beautiful French language, cultured surroundings, cafes, patisseries and Mediterranean sunsets. But I regained my beautiful wife, who lights up my heart. So, with that - we'll venture out into the streets of Istanbul and try to understand this unique culture without getting hit by a person.
Our airplanes dropped us off at the furthest edge of Europe. It will be up to us to literally walk into Asia as is fitting for the last stop in our Mediterranean phase of this journey.
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