I made it to Turkey without too much ado.
Before getting here, I really hadn't done any research on what Turkey would be like. Outside of a vague knowledge that they were trying to get into the EU, my understanding of Turkey was pretty ignorant. One of the things that came as a big shock is the sheer size of Istanbul: apparently there are around 20 million people that live in the city. 20 million! As you can imagine that makes pollution fairly bad and traffic is just crazy (it took Adam and I 2 1/2hrs to get back to his place from the airport). One surprise, despite all of the people, is the lack of garbage/sewage smell that seems to permeate a fair number of European cities. I was wondering what happens to all of the garbage (having not seen any garbage trucks), and found out last night that it gets picked up at 2am apparently.
I'm staying with my buddy Adam, who has most generously allowed me to crash at his apartment while in Istanbul. He lives with a Kiwi, and two Turkish students in a fairly small place that is, unfortunately, somewhat consumed with mold in places, primarily the bathroom.
My second night in Istanbul Adam took me to a traditional Turkish 'Meyhanes' (tavern). We spent about 4hrs hanging out with some friends of Adam, eating various dishes of eggplant, yogurt, cheese, and deep fried battery goodness, along with some 'Rakı' (aka "lion's milk"): a very strong, licorice tasting alcohol that starts out clear and turns white/cloudy when mixed with 3 parts water.
According to Adam the Meyhanes is the quintessential Turkish experience and I certainly got a feel for the locals when the band started walking around playing round after round of traditional Turkish love songs, some of which are apparently about eggplant (the Turks love their eggplant!). The mixture of Rakı and traditional songs led to a lot of great table dancing (see video below).
Aside from the revelry of late Turkish nights, the days have been busy with lots of walking and relaxing. I have managed to make it to a mosque (and inside) or two but site seeing is later this week. We did manage to while away a few hours sitting and watching soccer around a hukah. I've also started to plan the rest of my Turkey trip and plan to head south next weekend for about 3 weeks, down through Troy and Ephesus along the Aegean sea coast.
Photos: Istanbul
Before getting here, I really hadn't done any research on what Turkey would be like. Outside of a vague knowledge that they were trying to get into the EU, my understanding of Turkey was pretty ignorant. One of the things that came as a big shock is the sheer size of Istanbul: apparently there are around 20 million people that live in the city. 20 million! As you can imagine that makes pollution fairly bad and traffic is just crazy (it took Adam and I 2 1/2hrs to get back to his place from the airport). One surprise, despite all of the people, is the lack of garbage/sewage smell that seems to permeate a fair number of European cities. I was wondering what happens to all of the garbage (having not seen any garbage trucks), and found out last night that it gets picked up at 2am apparently.
I'm staying with my buddy Adam, who has most generously allowed me to crash at his apartment while in Istanbul. He lives with a Kiwi, and two Turkish students in a fairly small place that is, unfortunately, somewhat consumed with mold in places, primarily the bathroom.
My second night in Istanbul Adam took me to a traditional Turkish 'Meyhanes' (tavern). We spent about 4hrs hanging out with some friends of Adam, eating various dishes of eggplant, yogurt, cheese, and deep fried battery goodness, along with some 'Rakı' (aka "lion's milk"): a very strong, licorice tasting alcohol that starts out clear and turns white/cloudy when mixed with 3 parts water.
According to Adam the Meyhanes is the quintessential Turkish experience and I certainly got a feel for the locals when the band started walking around playing round after round of traditional Turkish love songs, some of which are apparently about eggplant (the Turks love their eggplant!). The mixture of Rakı and traditional songs led to a lot of great table dancing (see video below).
Aside from the revelry of late Turkish nights, the days have been busy with lots of walking and relaxing. I have managed to make it to a mosque (and inside) or two but site seeing is later this week. We did manage to while away a few hours sitting and watching soccer around a hukah. I've also started to plan the rest of my Turkey trip and plan to head south next weekend for about 3 weeks, down through Troy and Ephesus along the Aegean sea coast.
Photos: Istanbul
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