Mert Apart Istanbul

... are taking her course in Jazz History at the
Bosphourous University.
The man who picked me up at the hotel knew so much about where we were
going and about Istanbul. I asked him if he was from the city and he said:
My family has been in Istanbul for 500 years. We came after the inquisition
in Spain. His grandfather was the French tutor to the Sultan's son. I asked
about the treatment of the Jews here and he said it was difficult during the war ...

... Deanna. She is from Washington DC and had come to Istanbul for a few days before she had to start her business trip. She works for a nonprofit education organization, and was there to facilitate the
transporation of 25 Iraqi students from Istanbul to Washington DC.

The next day we decided to go on a tour of the mosques of Istanbul. We decided to start at the largest mosque, the blue mosque. Unfortunately, we chose to go at noon on Friday, the muslim holy day ...

... Delight and Baklava, but a venture beyond the front display of these and most shops also stocks spices, nuts, herbal teas and remedies for various ailments (impotence seemed to be the most prolific). In the centre of the Bazaar, there's a courtyard which stocks pet food and not surprisingly, pets, but also houses the all-important toilets (cost: 25 of the things that make up Liras). We also ventured outside and behind the main Bazaar and found a ...

... to be a worldwide theme. In this city's case the population has grown six fold in the last decade and now sprawls across the region in a Los Angeles fashion. This has created the typical challenges of increasing crime, more commute times, and the gradual disappearance of what might be described as neighborhood values. A number of locals we spoke with were disturbed but resigned to this trend but were obviously nostalgic for the "old Istanbul." Jeff had ...

... gestured to the nıce older Turkısh barber that I wanted my head shaved. It was somethıng I wanted to do on thıs trıp as I never shaved my head before. I told hım to use the clıpper (#2 for the sıdes and #3 on the top). I was happy wıth the result. He then shaved my already short beard - Turkısh style. He fırst used a blade for the shave. After he wıped all of the shavıng cream from my face, he grabbed thread and started rubbıng ıt agaınst my cheeks. It ...

... then on to the Covered Bazaar to shop. We found my friend Levent, a jeweler, and my friend Murat who sells antiques. We walked by the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya then home to Erce's parents house for dinner. That night we went out to a barge that has a restaurant and bar. We sat by a pool in the middle of the Bosphorus at Galatasaray Adası and had a drink. Next day we went to Yildiz Park for breakfast. We followed that by the Bosphorus ferry tour. Taking it ...

... Gorilla," he repeated flatly. He now looked disconcerted at my inability to understand what he was trying to confer. "No," I said. "Not gorilla. Gorgeous. Gorgeous is very different from gorilla." I looked at the other students for help, but they all looked back at me as if to say, 'What can you do? You can't help them all.' Since that time, and after repeated misunderstandings over simple words and terminology, I have given this student the ...

I just want to start out by saying Servas is the greatest organiztıon in the world. I have experienced so much culture in these first couple of days. If anyone who is reading this is considring traveling in the near future, I highly reccomend you look into Servas. It is the single best way to get a real taste of the culture of the country you are traveling in. Enough said. Now, where to start.. As you know, I somehow made it up to Istanbul from Santorini in a day and a half ...

... over the Persians. The names of the 31 Greek city-states were engraved in the snakes heads. Only a partial head of a snake remains in the Istanbul Archeological Museum. The column was originally 26 feet high, but only 17 feet of the statue remain. Then we're walking to our first mosque, which is impressive enough to have me gaping like a typical farm girl tourist. It's the Blue Mosque, Sultanahmet Camii, Blue Mosque, built in 1616 named for the beautiful Iznik tiles which ...

Yes, we are starting to lose steam. Today our plan was not very ambitious. We only had the Istanbul Archeology Museum left on our to-do list. We also needed to come up with a way to get the the airport on the Asian side of the city in time for our plane tomorrow. After checking Turkeytravelplanner.com, we went to a recommended agency and arranged for a shuttle. They usually only have two per day so we were resigned to arriving ...