First few days in Turkey

I love the roofline on this sweet building!

I figure I’m about the luckiest person in the world right now- I’ve got my health, family, good friends, love, a safe place to live, and now I’ve been offered a trip to Turkey (a week here) and Thailand. 

Ian & Ainslie invited me to join them on this trip to Thailand to visit Ian’s brother and wife, who run an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, for a three week journey that will have us doing some building (earth block, and clay plasters), and I'll also be tutoring their son, Isaac, who will be missing about a month of french immersion, grade 2. How handy that I used to teach french immersion! So, I'm here as his private tutor, and will also do some building once we get to Thailand.

But for now, I'm here in Turkey, a country I knew very little about prior to coming. Honestly, I was so busy with work (and new love) before coming, I didn't really research this trip before coming, so really didn't know what to expect. We've been here for three days now, and I'd have to say that Istanbul is an absolutely wonderful city to walk around. The last time I spent days walking around an old city was in Paris, more than 20 years ago. Actually, this trip to Istanbul is the first 'real' holiday I've had in a very long time. We wake up each day and apart from certain sites we want to see, the days are open. The first day it felt a bit weird to just be able to open the door and go for a walk to see whatever we wanted, and do whatever we desired. 

Ainslie, Ian & Isaac walking the streets of Istanbul

Istanbul is so! beautiful, and we've lucked into a particularly warm period here- highs of 11-15 during the day, which is quite lovely, given that I left the first snowfall of the season behind when leaving Canada. The people of Turkey are really friendly, and we've had quite a welcome here. If you stay close to the more touristy regions, you are constantly accosted by restaurant workers & merchants, trying to lure you into their shop or restaurant to buy their wares. They're just trying to make a living, and they're pretty funny, too. It's all in good fun, and they know they won't win over every client, but that doesn't stop them from trying. In peak tourism season, it must just be jam packed here, given the number of shops & hotels that are in the city. 

The architecture of the city is mind boggling. Coming from a country with relatively new buildings, it is just wondrous to see mosques that date back so far in history...to see new buildings being constructed on top of the old fortified walls of Constantinople. It's astounding, and there will be photos to back this up, coming soon, soon! Even newer buildings seem to be constructed artfully, tastefully, and with care. 

Beautiful colours adorn the ceilings of mosques around the city

I'll write more later about the amazing sites we've been to thus far, including the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, and so on. We did manage to get off the beaten track a bit today, with a walk to the spice market (oh, the smells of 'love' tea, fresh apple tea, cardamom pods that awaken all of your senses, and so much more), which had vendor after vendor with turkish delight, specialty teas, hand painted tiles, and many more wares. Afterwards, we roamed around the streets to the impressive Aqueduct, and other sites- but I find it almost as fascinating to simply walk along less travelled roads (less touristy, I should say!), to be amongst the people going from shop to shop to get their wares. It is always refreshing to come to a country where city centres are set up for pedestrian traffic- they invite it, you might say. 

The smells of these overflowing containers was intoxicating!

We are debating going on a boat trip tomorrow up the Bosphorous River, where you can see Asia on one side, Europe on the other. I'm not entirely sure I want to dedicate an entire day doing that, given that I leave here on Friday, so I may pass, and find something else to do. Sipping turkish coffee in the square? Walking the streets yet again? To be decided!

I love the pizza delivery vehicles! 

In any case, Istanbul is an extremely colourful, interesting, vibrant city that merits more than a few days to really see all that it has to offer. And this doesn't even take into account the many places to visit across the country. Perhaps another trip to Turkey in my future? 

City streets are busy with pedestrians, and not so many cars!