Istanbul Adventures

Well here I am in Turkey.

I have to admit that I was a little bit nervous coming
to a Muslim country-not speaking the language and unsure of my welcome.

I told myself over and over-"You can do this-just keep going"

Turkish airlines was modern and very organized. The flight over was uncrowded and they served a decent lunch. But once the wheels touched down I had to get up my courage.

Part of the challenge-especially at the end of my trip when my money is a bit tight- is to not take the easy way out-ie. taking taxis and eating tourist food.
I bought my Visa stamp ($20.00 in US) and then waited in line for customs.
One thing I have noticed about this entire area-from Spain to Turkey- is that you have to be fairly aggressive. If you let one person move ahead of you then 20 will push into that space. Everybody elbows for space and you have to guard yours. When crossing the roads do as the locals do-jump out into the road and trust that the cars will stop. I have taken to watching locals and going when they go-allowing for them to get hit first if they didnt judge it correctly.

After customs I wandered around the sleek, open space of the airport until I found an ATM machine. The dollar is pretty weak against the Euro right now and it is the same with the Turkish Lira.

My first taste of the good old Turkish hard sell came soon after this. First-when it says Tourist Information that often means "Let me sell you my cousins transportation service-only 50 Lira!" It took some wrangling to get the location of the light rail station I had read about in my guide book out of the guy.

The light rail system runs from the airport through the modern part of town-ending before you get to the old Sultanahmet neighborhood. Once I got of the rail line I was supposed to cross over a major street, go two blocks and there would be a tram station. Well I must have come out the wrong end or something because that was not what I found. I found a huge 6 lane highway. I wandered for a while looking for a place to cross but found none.

I went up and down. It was VERY HOT. Once again I was so happy to only have my tiny suitcase and my camera backpack. I bought some bottled water and drank it as I walked.

One thing that is really different about Turkey-there are NO signs in English as there were in Italy and Spain. Although they use a version of the same alphabet we do there are many unusual letters(ş,ç,ö,ü,ğ) which make figuring things out harder for an American. NOBODY speaks any English outside of the tourist hotels, and as you can imagine my Turkish skills leave something to be desired.
I had learned hello(Merhaba) and please(lütfen). I tried those two words out on kids on the train-I am not sure if they worked because the kids just stared at me like I had three heads.

My new strategy was to try any retail store that was staffed by young people-figuring they might have learned some English. Finally I found one guy who knew enough to point out the tram station to me. Once I figured out how to buy the tickets, and how to use the entry machine, taking the tram was easy. It dropped me off about three blocks from my hotel. I was very pleased with myself-instead of 50 Lira I spent only 3 Lira!

Needless to say I recovered in my luxuriously comfortable hotel room, absorbing the airconditioning, watching CNN and trying out all the cool little soaps in the shower.


Later that night I ventured out to get some dinner. About two blocks from the hotel I glanced up and saw an English Pub on the corner. Leaning out the window were a man and a woman from Ireland. They cheerfully invited me to come inside and have a beer.

It turned out to be great time. We sat and chatted for at least three hours. I ordered a club sandwich-which turned out to have not only ham and cheese but also hard boiled eggs and pickles in it. The beer was a little expensive but cold.
The couples names were John and Carolyn Healey from Northern Ireland. We talked about Turkey-they gave me their take and advice as they were just finishing their trip- and we compared notes on the people passing below our window.

**Note-I saw alot of women in Turkey dressed from head to toe in scarves and gowns. Several were wearing the hijab- a long black robe with a full face veil. It looks awful hot in there and rather confining. I must admit it bothers me to see them-although I am trying to keep an open mind about their feelings or choices**

John Healey, it turns out, owns a B&B in county Armaugh and Carolyn is a school administrator. We talked at length about the war, about the Troubles in Ireland and about how times had changed-social life being a bit slower and more formal when they were young than it is for their 15 year old son now. Thus it was that on my first night in Turkey I learned more about Ireland and its politics than anything else. Still I had a great time.


Istanbul is a city where cats roam around like sultans. People feed the street cats who lounge at the restaurants and many carpet shops have pet cats who live there.
One more thing- I have already been asked out by two Turkish men- one of them my waiter at the pub who noticed we were talking about some scantilly clad young girls at the tram stop going to the local disco. "You lıke to go to dısco tonıght?" He was very polite and later brought us some turkish delight candies that he had bought on the street. I don't have to tell you I didn't go to the disco. I don't think the Turks are ready for my dancing.