ISTANBUL

ISTANBUL

The first 24 hours

25 Sept.

My first impression of Istanbul after 24 hour is…SELL EVERYTHING IN ST. PETE AND FEDEX THE CAT please.

What a great place. 24 hours does not a life make, but so far it is amazing. The apartment is wonderful.  It looks right out on the Bosphorus Strait that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, that is part of the Meditarrean Sea. Istanbul has a population of 12 million, but in this small suburb of  Kuzguncuk, surrounded by parks you would never know it was in the big city. We sit on the balcony and watch every type of boat pass by. In the morning, when the freighters sound their horns, the  sound echos done the valley of the strait.

The apartment and the calm it brings after being on the road for two weeks, is just a small part. I have never had so many RAK’s, Randon Acts of Kindness, in one day. The people have so far proven to be the kindest I have met anywhere.

·        It started in the train station with the tourist information guy and the man at the ATM machine who was very helpful by reminding us about a reciept.

·        At the ferry dock, where you can only buy tickets from a machine with cash, a man stood there and showed us the whole procedure, while others waited patiently and with smiles. No english was spoken.

·        On the bus, I pulled out the directions, and a young man indicated he would tell us where to get off.

·        I was told that the owner would be at the apartment on the balcony while the maid was cleaning. We saw a maid on a balcony cleaning and showed our directions to the man standing in the garage to the building. With out a word he whipped out is phone and called our landlord. Then he stepped out away from the building and pointed to the balcony of the next building were Yestin was standing waving.

We stored our luggage and went out to have lunch and shop while the maid finished the cleaning. This is not a tourist area and the shops and reaturants are very small. Resturants and tea shops may have 5 or 6 small tables.

• We chose a resturant because they had the only  menu in english. The waiter was very helpful and really wanted to know if we enjoyed the food.  He spoke bascially no english. The owner came by who spoke english and asked the same questions and was very sincere in helping us..
• From there we went to the little shops to get groceries. Everyshop keeper smilling and being helpful as possible with our bumbling ways and not a lick of Turkish between the 2 of us.

In the In the evening I went out to the "grocery store" for a few things we missed.  “Grocery store” , meaning it was big enough to carry a basket around.

• I interacted with butcher in sign language. He kept trying to sell me tongue and laughing as he indicated that it would go good with my other selections. I wanted Turkish wine, but he convinced me to buy Chilean wine. It was cheaper and better than the Turkish wine he carried. It was my old standby wine of Concho Y Toro.
• At the baker I ordered a loaf of bread and they cut it. Then I tried to pay and the guy kept shaking his head.  I thought he had not change, which seemed strange for the 10 that I handed him.  The owner came over and showed me the problem. It was Romainian money. I had grabbed the wrong pile of cash.  Unphased, he indicated, with a smile,  I could just take the bread,  which I did. I returned later to pay him.

That was all from 10 am to 10 pm. The place “feels” right also.  Just a nice neighborhood. just like the one on 16^th Street. Just a lot more exotic than watching Mr. Bill feed treats to all the dogs.in the neighborhood.