Istanbul (not Constantinople)

“Throughout history, by going to far places and seeing strange sights, men have prodded their imagination. They have found amazement and delight and have reflected that life back home need not be what it has been. They have learned that…there is more than one way to skin a cat, that there are more things in heaven and earth than was dreamt of in their philosophy, that the possibilities of life are not exhausted on Main Street…Travel has been the universal catalyst. It has made men think faster, imagine larger, want more passionately.”

Right when we got to Istanbul, at two o' clock in the morning mind you, with all our luggage, our Couchsurfing host Kemal took us to a club, and you'll never guess what song was playing. Summer Nights, from Grease! And, so we obviously, threw our luggage on the ground and started singing and dancing like crazy, with all our new-found Turkish friends. That was the moment I knew it was going to be one incredible trip. And Istanbul did not disappoint me!

Anything you want in Istanbul, chances are you can find it. There is a Starbucks on every corner (for me, CIVILIZATION!), McDonalds delivers, and you can take water taxis to get to another continent. Not to mention, you can buy incredible jewelry and scarves and ceramics, and food is delicious and super cheap. Basically, it's heaven on earth.


Not to mention, Istanbul was the center of civilization back in the day. Every single place we went to was at least 1000 years old and incredibly gorgeous. There is lots to do in Istanbul: the New Mosque & the Blue Mosque, Topaki Palace, Dolmabace Palace, the Grand, Egyptian, & Spice Bazars, the ancient cistern, the Archeological Museum, the AyaSofia, Prince's Island, and the Maiden Tower, all of which I could expound upon for hours if given the chance. If you're really interested, I'd be more than happy to regale you with stories from each of them, or if you're mildly interested, there's always Google. =)

There's a tie for my favorite place in Istanbul. The first is the Bosphorous Gardens - one of the few green spaces in Istanbul (which is actually a huge city of over 15 million people, and felt like it had more traffic than NYC!). But in this park, you can completely forget all of that and find yourself lost in beauty.
My pictures hardly do it justice. There were tulips everywhere, for the International Tulip Festival, and fountains, and sun, and I felt completely at peace there. It was one of the places you just have to experience for yourself. In reality, a lot Istanbul is like that: it's so beautiful that it doesn't photograph well. Therefore, I absolutely advocate that everyone get there as soon as possible. My other favorite place, is on the Asian side of the city, where you can sit by the water and see all the landmarks on the European side. It has no name that I know, but we went there at night and saw the city all lit up at night. Again, just incredibly beautiful.

It's hard to sum up two wonderful weeks of exploring so succinctly, but Istanbul is a wonderful place, full of incredibly generous people, that is hard to leave.

A few things I'll never forget: the hordes of pigeons, our new Turkish friends (Kaan, Kemal, & Kasim), the Turkish rock concert we went to, Turkish raki, kebap, and baklava, and most importantly, TEA!