Home Sweet Home

The title pretty much says it all. After a very long, very tiring, but otherwise uneventful journey, I made it back with no issues at all. All the family was there to meet me at the airport. Wife hopped out and gave me a warm welcome. I put my bags in the back and K1 and K2 reached over the back seat and latched on. I tried to give K3 a hello kiss but she just responded “Kiss my feet”. Her feet were covered with her pajama’s so I complied. Then when I got in the front seat, K3 said “Did you miss the kids?” I said, “Yes, I did”. K3’s response was, “Then how did you have fun then?”

It’s good to be home :)

Kapali Carsi

The final turkish phrase is “Grand Bazaar”. Yes, I made it there this time. For those keeping a “bucket list”, here is a new one for you. Go to a foreign city, have a guide that doesn’t speak English drive you to the city center, point to a map and leave you there with your only way home being public transportation and a note explaining how it all works. Exhilarating doesn’t begin to describe it. Just so I won’t keep you suspense, all went fine in the end.

The “grand” in Grand Bazaar really does not do the name justice. Imagine going to NY City. Take a 5 block square; cram it full of shops that can only handle 2-3 people at a time; add a million tourists (so it seemed); throw in a hundred street signs that do not correspond to any map I had and you may get the idea. Except you need to take about half of those shops, it put them “underground” in a maze of tunnels and alley ways that feel like a genetically mutated subway system. I was like a rat in a maze looking for cheese to find the way out except there was cheese of every kind at every corner. I went in one tunnel, came out a completely different way, and had no idea where I was. I wondered around the streets for a while, could not get my bearings so I went back underground figuring at least I knew I was still at the bazaar.

Every merchant at every store wants to be your friend. Everyone asks where I came from. I said “America” and they said “Best country”. Next time, for variety, I said “England”. They said “Best country”. How convenient – I am from both of the best countries. What are the odds of that? I kept saying, “I am just looking”. They must be used to that as their response was often, “I am just selling”. Anyhow, you get the idea.

The bazaar is definitely catered to the “shoppers” of the world – by that I mean “women”. The stores mostly consisted of jewelry (every kind imaginable), purses, handbags, coats, scarves, pottery, tea-pots, jugs and urns. My mission was to find souvenirs and gifts for my family. It took me a while to find something I liked but eventually I did. I had high hopes of taking more photographs but I kid you not when I say I probably spent 4-5 hours just in the underground section. I didn’t even really explore the top-side on the regular streets.

When it came time to leave, I took a deep breath, handed someone the map and pointed where I wanted to be. He asked someone else who spoke English and I said I needed to get to the Tram. He give me simple directions and off I went. I was not very optimistic because just about any other time I asked for directions, they pointed, I followed and never found what I was looking for. I think they point in a random direction just to have you move along.

I followed the directions, saw daylight, blinked a couple of times and lo and behold, I was back where I started. Good first step. I go to the ticket booth, armed with my piece of paper in English and Turkish and ask the nice man what tram I need. He shook his head in disgust and said, “No tram, take the bus. Number 84″. OK – who am I to argue. So off I go looking for bus number 84. Couldn’t find it anywhere. I look at the bus stops, maps and no bus 84. That’s when I looked up and saw bus 94A with “Bakirkoy” on the front. Good enough I thought. I hop on, show the hotel business card, he nods, I pay and take a seat.

Next question, how do I know where to get off? I get out my cell phone, bring up Google Maps and follow the blue dot as it gets closer to my destination. About 20 minutes later, the ticket collector starts speaking rather quickly at me and points to the door. I decided it would wait too long to explain my blue dot had not reached Bakirkoy yet and hoped he knew something I didn’t. So I hop off the bus and start looking around. Sure enough, it was the central square. We had walked through it the day before on our lunch expedition so I knew right where I was. Grabbed something to eat (chicken stuffed with rice and more rice pudding) and get back to my room around 7 PM. I made it. Just out of curiosity, I checked my cell phone and the blue dot was still miles away. So much for Google Maps. In their defense, I couldn’t use the GPS so it was just using the towers to determine my location. Must be something was lost in translation!

The end of my journey is almost here. I am sitting at the departure gate in Istanbul waiting for my flight. I should be leaving within the hour. Goes without saying, it has been an experience. Till next time.

Tavuk

Business is all done and by now, my co-worker is at the airport waiting for his flight home. I still have one more day to visit then it is my turn. I had planned on doing some sight-seeing yesterday but lunch interrupted my plans ;) I slept in for the first time and did not rise till about 11 AM. If you consider I didn’t go to bed till 4 AM, that was not bad at all. I got myself ready and stopped by the office to get some directions on how to get into town. I don’t think I have mentioned this but the hotel and office is actually in Bakirkoy which is a district within Istanbul. Most of the photographs I have posted so far were taken in the “old Istanbul” which is about a 20 minute drive away.

I arrived at the office around noon and was promptly greeted by a cup of tea. Just when I’d finished that, another one appeared. Even for Turkish standards, that was pretty quick. After some polite socialization (always required), I got some directions on what bus and tram to take. I even had N. write them in English and Turkish figuring if worse comes to worse, I can just hand the papers to someone and one way or another, they would understand. During this conversation, N. mentioned they were going to lunch about 12:45 PM. That was a surprise to me – it was so early! Since it was only 30 minutes till then I decided, why not – eating before I left would be a good idea. About 1:45 PM, we finally leave. Figures ;) Instead of going to the same place, a 5 minute walk away, we decided to go to a Kurdish place, about a 20 minute walk away. At that point, I kinda figured my plans for the day would be shot.

The restaurant was very nice and the food, once again, was excellent. As always, I can’t tell you what it was but it reminded me of fajitas. The meat arrived on a hot black plate and was still sizzling. It was accompanied by a large plate of pita looking bread. By now, I have gotten used to waiting a few minutes before starting to see how the locals eat the food. Sometimes they pick it up with their hands and sometimes they use their fork – depending on what they are eating. This time, they tore off a small piece of the bread off and use that to pick up the meat. I should mention that every one just tears a piece from the same bread in the basket. Doesn’t matter that everyone has handled the same piece of bread. That is no problem to them so no problem for me. What ever it was that we ate is the best meal I have had so far. After more cups of tea, lots of talking, we made our way back to the office. As we are walking out of the restaurant, a waiter is standing there with a bottle of cologne. He pours it over our hands and off we go, washing our hands as we walk down the street. I guess that is the Turkish equivalent of “hand sanitizer”. By now it was well after 4 PM and my co-worker still had some reports to write. I went back to the hotel then came back an hour later to review what he had written and the work was pretty much over.

Realizing I wasn’t going very far that day, I just relaxed at the hotel for a while. About 9 PM, my stomach told me it was time for dinner. I walk down the street and start looking for something to eat. I was feeling like a change of pace so I went for the other white meat – tavuk (chicken). I find a place that has pictures on the wall, point to “tavuk siss and some patates”, ask for the universal “cola” and wait for my food. It was served up pretty quick as this little cafe was the equivalent of “fast food”. I eat, go to the cash register, look at the numbers and pay the bill. No tea this time. I almost asked for some but I survived without it.

Today, I am definitely heading back to old Istanbul one more time. I’m getting a ride into town and I will take the tram back to Bakirkoy. I have the hotel’s business card so if worse comes to worse, I jump in a tax and point to the address. Between that, and Google Maps on my cell phone (which works in Turkey just fine), I think I’ll make it. My plan for today is to hit the “Grand Bazaar” and maybe some more Mosque’s. Given the location, I don’t think it will be a problem to find either of those two items. Hopefully, I’ll have time for one more post before I leave. Depends on how my day goes …

Check please

Today was a busy day. Not so much for us but for our Turkish friends that is. We spent most of the day at their business but because of various delays, it was not till after lunch before we had a chance to really sit down and talk. Remember, lunch is normally around 2 – 3 PM so the day was almost over before we started! None the less, with the help of our trusted translator, N., we were able to make a lot of ground and pretty well wrapped up what we set out to accomplish on this trip. So much so, tomorrow will probably be spent translating meeting minutes then maybe some free time to visit some more sights.

Once the work day was over, my co-worker and I were on our own for dinner plans. Since he had some business to attend with, it was about 8:00 PM before we finally found a place to eat. Between going to sleep at 3 AM, eating lunch at 3 PM and Dinner at 8 PM, I have no idea what time zone / schedule I am on. I’m going to be a mess when I finally get back home. Anyhow, this was our first time in a restaurant by ourselves. Fortunately, we stumbled into a nice looking place that had pictures on the menu with English translation. By now, we can at least visualize what we like even if we can’t say the name. Once we found the picture we liked, we just pointed and hoped for the best. As for drinks, “coca-cola” appears to be a pretty universal in both languages. After more white meat and white rice, plus some turkish rice pudding for desert (another new favorite of mine) we were ready for the check. I made what I thought was the universal “check please” sign in the air and said “check”. The waiter seemed to understood and promptly left. A few minutes later, two cups of tea arrived. Must be “check” sounds like “chay”. So there we were, 8:30 PM, two cups of tea, and we’re looking at each wondering if we should drink it or not. We both decided we had stuff we wanted to do and probably need the caffeine, so we said what the heck and bottoms up they went. As for getting the actual check, I just took my wallet out and showed it to the waiter and he seemed to get the point. I used my business Visa card – I can’t wait till I file that expense report with charges from Turkey!

While I was typing this entry, my family finally got home from K2’s football practice in the rain so we connected via iChat video again. My wife and I had a few moments to ourselves then the whole family joined in and chaos commenced. K2 was wrapped in a towel fresh out of the shower and showed me his new DS game; K3 read me part of her book and showed me her knew doggy webkinz; K4 got so close to the computer that all I could see was the top of his head; K1 tried to get on a have a normal conversation but started to get weepy so it was a little difficult. It didn’t help that K2 and K3 kept showing random objects close up the screen so all I could see were rocks, batteries and other oddities in my office. So while it was not the productive conversation, I did get to hear about when K1 milked cow at “farm days” and the cow pooped. These kind of memories are priceless.

Not being able to talk on a regular basis as I normally would do on business trips definitely makes the days go slower. So while technology may make it seem I am not so far away, it doesn’t change the fact we all miss me being home. Just a couple of days, one long plane ride, and I’ll be there soon. Hang in there K1 — not too much longer ;)

Chay

The Turkish word for the day is “chay” — which means tea. More on that later ;)

Yesterday was spent getting down to business. Which was promptly interrupted by more tea, talking, lunch (around 3 PM – as usual), some business, tea, dinner (around 7 PM) and finally we finished up with a little business. The pace over is here is very different and much more relaxed. Not that I am complaining one bit. I’ve had no issues adapting at all!

I’m still working the late shift though. I find myself finally getting to sleep around 3 AM local time and then trying to sleep as late as possible before having to get ready. On average, 5-6 hours a night. Yesterday, my co-worker and I finally had an epiphany about our sleepiness nights. It suddenly occurred to us that Turkish tea has lots of caffeine. With the amount we have been drinking, it is highly likely that is why we have not been sleeping at night! He has decided to cut himself off this afternoon and see what happens. As for me, I don’t really care so I’ll use the tea to keep me awake and try to fall asleep before the morning call to prayer starts.

Speaking of which, I had a very early call to prayer the other night. At about 1 AM, the guy in the room next to me decided to start singing the praise. The walls in the hotel are very thin so it came in very clear. Not that I could understand a word that was said but it is the thought that counts. In all seriousness, the call to prayer is one of the experiences I don’t think I could ever convey in writing or via photographs. There are literally speakers all over the city that make it very prominent. Five times a day, the prayers are broadcast in what is a mixture of wailing, singing, praise and absolute reverence to the topic at hand. It truly is an amazing thing to hear. I have a little on video but I may try to capture some more before I leave.

On one occasion, we were dining with our Turkish companions during a call to prayer. One by one, they quietly disappeared for a few minutes to pray on their own. There are dedicated rooms in many of the restaurants (similar to a small chapel) to allow for this activity. When they return, nothing is mentioned and they simply resume where they left off. I’ve heard it many, many times (there is no way you can miss it) but it is still something amazing to hear.

Something I find amusing is seeing western fast food places such as Domino’s, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut. Parked outside, are scooter’s with holders on the back used to make deliveries! Despite what you may think, I am not interested in the slightest about eating there. Given the quality of food we have been eating elsewhere, there is simply no comparison. Furthermore, while we consider these “fast food restaurants”, the locals treat them more as a cafe. They eat, lounge around and talk for hours. Personally speaking, if I was in a hurry, and needed fast food, I would eat in the business district. The waiters are literally running from table to table trying to accommodate people’s needs. The overall service has been impeccable. You feel like you are in a 5 star restart.

I’ll be honest, I still find it surreal that I am 5,500 miles away, being driven around Istanbul and doing things such as emailing from my Verizon cell phone. It is amazing how technology can bridge the gap when you are in a foreign city so far away. Even K1 has been emailing me, asking me questions about my day. I am already starting to think about my trip back to the US and how fortunate I have been to have visited Istanbul. It is definitely an experience I won’t forget anytime soon.

Tesekkur

The phrase for today means "Thank you" (it’s missing a few of the accents on the letters but I don’t have a Turkish keyboard so that is the best I could do). The reason I chose that phrase is because we have been saying "Thank You" constantly over the last two days. In all my travels, I have never met a set of more gracious hosts than the three that have accompanied us the last two days. They have paid for expense since we have been here. They have driven us all over the city and taken us where ever we want to go. Our translator, G., has managed to keep up with all questions all day long as well as walk for hours and hours being our guide. Just today, I mentioned how as much as I have loved seeing the sites, experiencing the culture, I have equally enjoyed just spending time with our Turkish companions eating (mostly lamb), drinking tea and socializing. That is truly something that is lacking in the American culture back home.

Since I know everyone is dying to know, I will say right up front that we did not visit the Hamams (Turkish Bath) today. One of our Turkish friends, H., has the flu and my co-worker was still suffering from jet lag. If I have time, and can find my way, I may still go on my own. I am still a little hesitant about the whole experience but I think I’m willing to give it a shot. We’ll see.

Today was mostly spent in Eminonu and the local bazaar (market). We experienced a variety of colors, smells, spices and people as we wound our way through a network of streets and tunnels. It’s really hard to describe what we saw so I’ll defer to photos on my Flickr site. Each of the photographs is truly worth a thousand words.

I do have another "hotel bathroom story" though ;) The shower in my room has the largest shower head I have ever seen. And I don’t know if it is by design or not but the water pressure constantly changes. It is strong to begin with so you start with a gentle downpour for 30 seconds then it changes to a torrential downpour for 30 seconds. Just when you think you can’t take it anymore, it subsides back to just a gentle downpour. And so on and so on. Upon request, I took pictures of the shower, sink and commode for all to see. It’s the simple things that makes memories as well!

I also tried iChat on my laptop today and successfully managed to catch my wife and kids in my office at home. I was able to sit in my hotel in Istanbul and connect to my house in the US via a video iChat session. This enabled us to all see each other and speak to each other. It really makes a difference when you are far away to see and hear from your family. I am sure it really meant a lot to all of us. Unfortunately, K3 and K4 were sleeping so maybe I can see them next time.

That’s about it for today – time to sign off and see if I can get some sleep. I managed to sleep from 3 AM till 9 AM last night so at least I got a solid six hours. Tomorrow, tourist time is over and we actually have to start working. It will be sad to not be able to wander around the city but this is really the reason we are here. The blogs and pictures may slow down for a couple of days but I might have one more "personal" day before I leave that could result in some more photographs.

Istanbul: Day 3 photos

I created two categories on Flickr. The “Istanbul” set is for regular photographs. The “Istanbul HDR” is for the photographs I processed using the HDR technique. Please be sure you review each category as I have added images to both sets. Enjoy :)

Istanbul: Day 2 photos

Just uploaded some photos from day 2 – please click the link on the right for my Flickr site. Enjoy.

Hamams

Last night was fitful fight with severe jet lag. I slept for a couple of hours, rolled around for an hour, read my book for a couple of hours, slept a couple of hours, woke up to the sounds of the "prayer call" being blasted across the whole city through the miles of connected speakers, slept another hour then time to wake up. Not one of my more refreshing evenings to say the least. I had high hopes for this night but it is 2:30 AM local time as I write this so it is not looking good!

Day 2 in Istanbul was the typical tourist day out. We were greeted at the hotel by H., one of our Turkish partners from the day before and two new arrivals. One was a man named M., who turned out to be H’s brother. The other was a young lady, G., who teaches English at the local "high school". This was very fortunate for us as neither H. or M. could speak English. I don’t know who was more excited, us for having a translator or G. for having the opportunity to practice English. Now if you have been paying attention, you may notice that makes 5 people in our touring party. We were using the same car as the day before. So once again, three of us pile in the back seat, roll down the window, and silently say our blessings for the cool breeze coming in through the windows.

Most of the day was spent visiting the most famous sights – the Aya Sofya Mosque and the Blue Mosque. Now I have been fortunate enough to visit some pretty impressive churches in my day but nothing could have prepared me for the sure size and impressiveness of these two Mosques. The enormous domes, level of detail, the thousands and thousands of tiles, the myriad of stain glass windows were simply magnificent. The Blue Mosque is still an active Mosque and was closed for prayers at one point. When it opened up, and we were allowed in, we had to take off our shoes and G. had to cover her hair with respect to the Muslim religion. I understand we had to remove our shoes to protect the magnificent carpet but I couldn’t help wonder as various odors passed my nose, what is worse – the dirty shoes or smelly feet? In their defense, there are washing facilities outside where the dedicated ones actually wash their feet before entering the Mosque. Fortunately, this was not a requirement so white tube socks did the job. I did take several photographs and when I get my computer on-line , I’ll put them on my Flickr website.

While G. spoke excellent English, there were many times throughout the day that we really were not quite sure was she said. We started to just nod our heads and say yes and hope the question was harmless. The first time this happened, we were at lunch and our food was ordered for us. I’ve since given up looking at a menu and simply wait for something to appear. What we had today was fantastic. Can’t tell you what it was called and I think it as lamb. Not sure.

After some more broken English, a few nod’s and and yes here and there and we off to the Topkapi Palace. This consisted of several smaller Mosque’s connected with various rooms full of historical artifacts. Unfortunately, photographs were not allowed so I was not able to capture what we saw. None the less, it was very impressive once again. Reminded me of the Turkish equivalent of Buckingham Palace with armed guards, jewels behind thick glass cases and lots of priceless heirlooms.

A few nods later, we’re off to the "Pierre Loti" which is a small restaurant overlooking the Golden Horn (Halic – meaning the Bay of Istanbul). The view was stunning. We sat there and drank Turkish Tea which I must say, I am becoming quite fond of. Nothing like Lipton’s at all. This happened to be near where G. lived so we dropped her off and that left us with two Turkish brothers who spoke very little English. There wasn’t even any nods and yes’s at this point – they talked and we just stared. We drove in the direction of the hotel but we were not sure if we were having dinner or not. As we walked towards the hotel, H. and M. go into what I would call a corner cafe and gestures towards the hunks of meat rotating on a spit. I smile, point to one, nod my head and dinner is ordered. Once again, can’t tell what it was called, tasted great and it was probably lamb again.

By now, you may be wondering what "Hamams" means. I saved that one for last. This was another one of our nodding, just say "yes" moments, that is making me reconsider that whole strategy. In short, we have sorta committed ourselves to visiting a hamams first thing in the morning. For those not up on their Turkish, a "hamams" is a Turkish Bath. That’s were a bunch of guys sit in a loin cloth and wooden flip-flops, sweat profusely, soak in cool water and perhaps have a massage. The guide books says a massage can, "yo-yo between being enjoyable, limp-wristed or mortally dangerous". Depending on which one you visit, you may wash yourself or have someone else scrub you down with a coarse cloth mitten removing dirt you never knew you had. Before you ask, there are certain areas of your body off-limits that you have to personally attend with – regardless of where you go.

The guide book also says, "we just don’t think it’s advisable for you to leave Istanbul without having a bath. A Turkish bath that is â¦" Who am I to argue with the guide book? So it looks like I finally make it out of the bath room in my hotel and going to bath with my new Turkish friends. I’ll report back tomorrow unless I experience the "mortally dangerous" kind of treatment.

Merhaba!

In case you wondering, "merhaba" means hello in Turkish. For those who do not already know, I have the fortune of traveling to Istanbul, Turkey on a business trip. It was a last minute trip with only a couple of weeks to prepare but here I am. Fascinating to say the least.

According to the screen on the plane, we traveled over 5,600 miles to get here. As you can imagine, it was a long flight. Over 11 hours. I was luckily enough to get the last available "exit row" seat so at least I had some room to stretch out. The plane ride was not that bad actually. It was on Delta and I has some of the best airline food I can remember.

We were greeted at the airport by three of our business partners. I am traveling with my supervisor so there was a total of five guys, plus a few large bags. The driver pulls up in a small four seater car. You do the math. Don’t ask me how, but we managed to all fit in the car with several of us having bags between our feet. All four windows were rolled down to compensate for three turks and two weary travels all crammed into a small car.

We were dropped off at the hotel to give us a chance to rest up before dinner. My co-worker’s room smelt like a tobacco factory and the air-conditioner was blowing heat instead of cold air. I would have stuck around to commiserate but my room smelt fresh and the A/C worked just fine. So I wished him good luck and retired to my room. Eventually, his A/C was resurrected and we were both able to recuperate.

I confess, I did have to defer to the conversion application on my cell-phone in order to set the temperature correctly. It has been too many years since I used celsius so I had to determine the desired temperature in fahrenheit then convert. I had to pull the sheet over me during my nap so I think it is pretty close.

While in the room, I noticed a few oddities I have not seen in US rooms. First, the "door key card" has a secondary, very important, feature Once in the room, you have to leave it in a special slot just inside the door in order to make the electric come on. Seriously, when you pull the card to leave, the lights go off and the A/C shuts down. This truly is an inovative energy savings function other hotels should look into.

Secondly, the bathroom sink has clear glass disc the size of a dinner plate on top of the faucet. When you move the lever, water "flows" over the top of the disc making a small water fall instead of just streaming out of the end of a faucet. I can’t help but be impressed. I think I’ve washed my hands more today that I would all week at home.

Lastly, in the bathroom once again, the commode has a nozzle sticking out of the back, just below the inside rim. If you push the button on the wall, the commode flushes as one would expect. If you turn the handle, the nozzle squirts water as one would not expect. I believe civilized people call this a "bidet". For us common folk, we call this an experiment waiting to happen. Just what one needs after sitting on a plane for 11 hours and having a car ride with three sweaty turks. Refreshing indeed.

After our nap, our turkish friends picked us up and took us to dinner. Despite my initial reservations about finding something to eat, I had a fantastic meal. I throughly enjoyed a salad with some serious balsamic vinegar like I have never had before. I ate rice wrapped in grape leaves. I sampled beef, lamb and chicken all on the same plate. I had white rice that tasted better than you could ever imagine from white rice. For desert, I had figs with walnuts and several other things I can even begin to describe. During this whole meal, I used three glasses, four different plates and three sets of silverware. It’s like buffet style – as soon as you are done eating your current selection, a group of waiters whisk away your plate and replaces it with a new one before you are even done chewing the food. Very impressive.

Once back at the room, I checked out my TV options. As I suspected, all 40 channels are in Turkish. It was entertaining by itself but then I really had a laugh when James Bond appeared on TNT with a heavy Turkish accent Guess I won’t be watching much TV this week.

That’s all for now. It’s 11:30 PM in Turkey so time to call it day.