You don't get love, you give it

When I was traveling last year, I read a lot of books.

One of those books was "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts. It's a mammoth book, a colossal undertaking of 944 pages that I braved largely because it was based in my newly-adopted hometown of Mumbai (Bombay), India. Like the author, I too had relocated there, though admittedly on much tamer circumstances. I bought the book on the second day of a 9 day trek in Nepal (after realizing Twilight #2 was nowhere to be found). I still shoulder some guilt for having our 16-year old porter Norbu carry it all those miles.

There's a line in the book, where Roberts ends one of the chapters by writing "You don't get love, you give it." At the time, I wrote it off for a cliche statement. But it has stuck with me since that quiet day in May when I read it, and I find myself lately reflecting back on one of the most amazing years of my life, and realizing just how true it is.

I've been fortunate enough to meet people throughout this year, and have experiences, that I would never have had the courage to even attempt in the first place without the support of so many family and friends. I've found myself thinking a lot about giving versus getting love, as I have been lucky enough to be the recipient of so much love, often when I didn't even deserve it.

Selflessly and completely, people have seriously shown me the love this year. And I keep wondering if I've done the same in return.

Several people have asked me what the highlights were of my time abroad, and one of the first things that comes to mind is my experience teaching in Bombay. The children I taught there are amazing, and as much as I love them, I feel like they gave me so much more love, unconditionally and without question, even while having so little, that it wasn't nearly a fair trade (though I did teach them what "totally awesome" meant, so I tried to show my appreciation on some level).

My entire adventure would not have been possible without my friend Sunitha and her husband Ashwyn who welcomed me not as a guest in their home, but as part of their family. I'm yet to figure out a proper repayment for their kindness, generosity, and sharing of their wealth of knowledge about Bombay (specifically its fine foods, both at home and eating out!) To have that time to spend with Sunitha again was priceless; I hope someday I will have a home as awesome as theirs to host them in (and maybe even on a beach, too!) and try and live up to the high bar that is Indian hospitality.

I'm not sure I ever explained how much it meant to me that friends and family came to visit me--Jessie, Bryan, and Randy--and experience the craziness of India firsthand, but the random motorcycle rides in the dark, the beers for breakfast, and the photo collages of food in Nepal and India will not soon be forgotten. For those friends I traveled with outside of India--Libby, Abdullah, Patti, Sarah and Gareth--the nights out in Mykonos, the kufte in Istanbul, the brewery tours in Ireland/Holland, the MeatBowl in Melbourne all still bring a smile to my face.

The list goes on of all the people who have given me so much love: the D-town winos, who got me bacon when I was fresh off the plane back in Denver in August; Annie K, not only for keeping my car but always being there to listen to all my random boy stories; Carolyn for watching my plants and being a shoulder to lean on; my parents for supporting me even when they think I'm crazy (which, I think is a majority of the time); Maria for encouraging me not to get a real job and to travel more; Jeffy Peeps for being my favorite Peoples; Joe for sending me Newsweeks and Economists in the mail; Nanu for telling me that no one would judge me if I decided I hated India and decided to go home early; Phil for hooking us up with Pemba Sherpa in Nepal; and for everyone that sent me a message while I was gone, that I've seen since I've gotten back over coffee, whiskeys, lunches or beers; who read my blog and (hopefully) enjoyed it; it's been amazing for me to have you all along for the ride the last year with me, through the ups and downs, the rik-shaws and the cows, the dance parties and the sunrises.

I come back to the statement again; with all this love I'm getting, is it true that you don't really get it, but give it?

And then, January 8th marked one year since I departed Denver and flew to Mumbai, unsure of what life held for me but extremely excited, apprehensive, and happy. Now I find myself a few days into the new year, feeling similar, but for so many different reasons. My home is again in Denver, though I haven't had my own "home" yet, as I have been so lucky to have friends like Todd, Emily, Angelique, and Patti that have let me lean on them and literally put a roof over my head. For their graciousness, I am ever grateful. I've reconnected with old friends and met new ones, and set down temporary roots with a new job. My wanderlust hasn't waned, but for right now, I am trying to keep it in check (though trips to South Dakota, Minneapolis, Iowa, and soon Phoenix worked themselves into my itinerary quickly in the nearly five months since I've been back).

When I was in India, my friend Jim and I in Denver wrote snail mail letters back and forth (which were a guarantee to wipe out any inkling of homesickness each time I got one). In one of those letters in February, I remember writing him about how happy I was at that moment, being in India, floundering but exploring, pushing my boundaries, encompassed by novelty and sensory overload and cows and garbage and color. I'm pretty sure the next day I was probably cursing India and all its headaches and shortcomings and lack of infrastructure. But at that moment, as I wrote to my good buddy, my perspective wasn't tainted. It was filled with love of my situation, my experience, my adventure. I was letting the love in, and giving it back.

The journey I set out on last year may have come full circle, as a new one is just beginning. And for that I am extraordinarily grateful. Because of all the things I learned, one of the most important was to not be afraid to give love. I've learned that if you do give it, you may find yourself lucky enough to get it, too. And I hope, out of all the books I've read over the years, I carry that message I came across in Shantaram with me in all my adventures yet to come.

Touring Athens

ATHENS June 21 - 24, 2009

We welcomed Athens with open arms, and the mood was reciprocated. After getting a cab with relative ease to our hotel, we were able to navigate the public transit (with assitance from our hotel desk clerk) to an area not far from the hotel where we had an amazing dinner with, as expected, excellent wine. We also realized that the 80s style is back in a big way, as evidenced from the hot pink tights this young woman was sporting.

Having been pretty spent from ferry-traveling, we retired early that night, and admittedly, did not figure out how to pay for the use of the bus until the next day.

On Monday (the 22nd) we tried without success to enter the new Acropolis Museum. Though it was officially open to the public, we needed advance Internet reservations, which we didn't have. Bummed but determined to enjoy the beautiful day, we headed over to the ancient Acropolis (which is the name of the ancient Greek city) to see the Parthenon (which is the temple).

We didn't take a guided tour of the Parthenon, but highlights were the Dionysus Theatre and the Herod Atticus Theature. I won't go into a lot of the history here, but instead will let some of the pix speak for themselves.

Goddesses I loved this.

Parthenon view.

Senor felt at home here.

Having our trusty guidebook, we tried to find the Temple of Zeus, but first wandered up a small trail to the Philopappou Monument. I cannot remember what greatness Philoppaou is known for, but the view of the Parthenon from his monument was pretty grand.

After trying, in vain, to get an employee at the Acropolis to guide us to Zeus' Temple, we wandered around in other areas known for their spectacular ruins and called the Ancient Agora (what we thought was Zeus' Temple most of the day from far away views). This was the heart of ancient Athens for years and years and where political gatherings, debate, elections, theatre, athletics, religious occasions, and trading took place. However, it was repeatedly plundered and destroyed over the years, and it was last excavated in the 19th century with more effort going into it beginning in 1931. Having a great lunch after leaving the Ancient Agora, complete with Mythos Beer, we continued our journey until we finally came upon yes, you guessed it, ZEUS' Temple!

Lib holla-ing at Zeus' Temple!

It wasn't nearly as rad as we had hoped, but it still was pretty great, and we also got to see Hadrian's Arch. From their we wandered in the beautiful National Gardens where we came upon some delightful old men playing chess and a wild turtle. Soon, we came to a road that we discovered was in front of the President's residence, and just as the Changing of the Guard was taking place. A small group of men were filming some sort of TV show of the process, but we never did figure out what that was about. Being a huge nerd, I needed a photo with the guard. I am pretty sure he hated me, and all others like me who pose for such photos.

After my photo opp, we made it to the original Olympic Stadium that was re-used in recent years.

By now though, it was time for happy hour where we made it to a delightfully decorated watering hole. After our drink though, I hit the wall, and wanted nothing more to rest up for the night, and we soon ventured back to the hotel.

With only two days left in Athens (and the last day of holiday for Lib) we took the day fairly easy, doing some shopping and of course sampling more great food. The highlight was an open-air concert at the Herodeion at the Acropolis which featured a classical music concert by Thanos Mikroutsikos and was part of the Athens & Epidaurus Festival. We did end up leaving before it was over, partly due to the fact we had been there for three hours and partly because we had our fill of entertainment by the extremely enthusiastic woman in front of us who was overprotective of her seat cushion and had a little too much love for Thanos.

It was sad to send Lib off in her taxi to the airport, but I was so happy to have spent the time traveling together and took such great memories away from our trip! I was also lucky enough to get into the Acropolis Museum my last day in Athens, and it was very impressive, featuring tons of Greek sculpture. Including this Half-Faced Man.

Athens was a great city, but in comparison to Istanbul it didn't hold quite the same allure to me. I did wish we would have had time to go to Marathon though, the city where Pheidippides, the man who was said to have run the entire distance from Marathon to Athens to declare that the Athenians had been victorious over the Persians in the Battle of Marathon, started his fateful journey (he died of exhaustion after relaying his message of victory). I was thinking, maybe it would make me faster in the half-marathon I had coming up in a few days.

The Turkey/Greece leg of my adventure was certainly full of surprises, happy memories, and tons of fun. All the same I was very excited to be heading to England to meet two friends I had met on my southern India tour and oh yes, run a half-marathon.

Onto England!

Rub a Dub Dub

American girls go to the Turkish Tub!
June 13th, 2009

Going to a Turkish Bath was on Libby's short list of things to do before we left Turkey. Being a good sport and also very interested in the process, I was game.

After our Ephesus tour, we did some research and happened upon one in walking distance from our hotel (after a bit of hassling from one man aiming to sell us stuff).

It not only met, but exceeded, our expectations.

A run down of the Turkish Bath process:

First of all, it is not a svelte 21-year-old muscular young man that rubs you down. Think, rather, of a roly-poly, hairy, pot-bellied, mustachioed large Turkish man.

When we arrived we were instructed to wrap ourselves in towels (swimsuit, optional, if you brought one), and then head back to a sauna type area (I had opted to only get the bath, not a massage, because I feared it was an oil massage like the one I had in India). We chatted with a Welsh couple who were also haivng their first Turkish Bath. As I sweated out every possible calorie from all the kufte I had ate the past week, I wondered just what I was getting myself into.

A short time later, we found out.

Mr. Roly-Poly comes in and shouts "COME!" to the Welsh couple, and they leave. Soon, he beckons Libby and I, and we obediently follow.

"SIT!" shouts the loud, plump Turkish man in the towel as he pours water over my unexpected head, and then washes my hair with a large bar of green soap that suspiciously resembles Lava. After we each get properly scrubbed and rinsed, we sit until he is finished with the Welsh duo.

"LADIES, COME!" Our man bellows, and we walk into the first room and are instructed to lie on a large, warm, marble slab/table (one at a time). Our man proceeded to exfoliate our skin, (picture him wearing a large scrubbing mitt and going to town), and we then rinsed with a bucket of water from a tap on the side of the wall.

We again, one at a time, climbed onto the slab and were slapped on our backsides with a foam bag that oozed out soapy bubbles, and proceeded to rinse again.

What, may you ask, is going through my mind at this time?

1. I really want one of those soapy foam bags.

2. Don't slip on the floor when I get off the marble slab table.

3. This is hilarious.

After we are both bathed, we have a cold shower and are wrapped in clean cloths/towels and sent back to our "room" where we have apple tea.

At this point, I am thouroughly enjoying my Turkish Bath experience, and decide that yes, I needed the massage too.

Wrapped in our terrycloth blue towels and turban-like headdress.

The massage consisted of Libby and I each having our own burly and rotund Turkish man massage us, included more slapping of the backsides, and a command of "LADY, TURN OVER PLEASE!"

On the way out, we were given a bit of lemon spritzer to put on face, and we re-emerged into the world, cleaner, more cultured, and well, hungry.

Our last night in Turkey, we had ice cream, we had schnitzel, we had wine, and, we saw a very impressive Turkish mullet.



As the sun set on Kusadasi and we looked out into the waters it was exciting to think that the next day, we would be in Greece.

The Virgin's House and Ephesus

June 13th, 2009

From Pammakale Libby and I traveled on a small bus (where I was privy to watching some of the Weeds season on Libby's iPod) and we met one of the founders of Moveon.org (randomness) to Kusadasi, where we found that we had much nicer accommodations than planned, and crashed early for the night after elevating our for some unknown reason very swollen feet.

We embarked the next morning with a small and shall we say eclectic tour group , with the first stop being Virgin Mary's House (this part of Turkey is known for much Biblical history). Virgin Mary's house, which is where she is said to have lived out her last years, was small and very, very peaceful. Outside you can even leave a message for her, on the wall displayed below.

This way to her crib.

Awaiting entrance.

Sample of some of the notes left; this was part of a long, narrow wall.

There wasn't a ton to see there, so we headed off soon to Ephesus, an Ancient Greek City known to once have the Temple of Artemis and said to perhaps be the site where The Gospel of John may have been written. It is well-known to have been an important center for early Christianity, and the Apostle Paul is said to have lived here.

It is also widely known, that they sell Genuine Fake Watches outside the entrance.

Ephesus was under Roman rule for many years, and is said to only be 15% excavated, and contains the largest Roman ruins in the eastern Mediterranean (thank you, WIKIPEDIA). The Library of Celsus is a striking image, as was the Theater which is said to be the largest outdoor theatre in the Ancient World and I think still holds concert where once gladiators fought.

Library of Celsus

Libby and I in the Great Theatre, channeling the Gladiators.

Nike, swoosh

The photo below is interesting, our tour guide noted it was so the men in the city knew which way the Library was, which also had a tunnel to the Brothel. Hmmm, scandalous!


I would say Ephesus emphasized the communal life, as evident from the latrines that were situated in close proximity.

After our tour of Ephesus and a few more tour stops of the day at a mosque and at a Carpet store where the guy was straight out of the mafia--curly black hair, chest hair, gold chain and all (we resisted buying the rug). We headed back to Kusadasi, where a real adventure awaited us...

Journey to the center of the earth

Or rather, the center of Turkey and yes, that IS Constantinople
June 10th - 13th, 2009

From Istanbul, Libby and I took an overnight bus to Central Turkey. As you might imagine, overnight buses are not chock-full of amenities, but we reached the conclusion that it could have been worse, despite the lack of sleep. We had booked this leg of our trip through a travel agency in Istanbul, thus we had a tour guide for the day named Alli when we arrived in Cappadocia, and we turned out to be his only clients for the day; thus, a private tour.

Cappadocia is an area unlike anything else in the world; volcanic eruptions some 40 million years ago left the landscape of the region littered with thousands of rock formations which have been dubbed "fairy chimneys". I'll let the photo speak for itself:

Panoramic view of C-docia.

Fairy Chimney + Flowers = Fabulous.

A cluster of shroom-ish fairy chimneys.

The rock formations were multi-purpose: they lent themselves as cave homes and people lived in these all the way up to the 1960s; the caves also housed lots and lots of churches, of which we were able to see some beautiful paintings on the walls done over the past centuries; finally, the caves were also home to our feathered friends the messenger pigeons and you can still see the holes for the pigeon houses in many caves.

Pigeons in their house.

Alli drove us around the area and we also went to a large handmade pottery studio where I realized that, alas, pottery is not my calling, as you can perhaps discern here; I was told not to shift career tracks.

You want me to smoosh what?!?!

Later in the day, we visited Goreme which is a large open air museum featuring several cave churches. I met this fine gentleman there:

Who knew I would meet my fro-soulmate at Goreme?

However, it was scorching hot and Lib and I were dragging from bus, church, cave, and heat fatigue. Alli called us out on it when he pointed to a painting and said to me "Who did I say that was?" And I answered "Jesus". I mean, we were seeing like 80 churches, it had to be a good hunch.
Nope, Wrong Answer. Constantinople was the man. At that point, Jesus seemed close enough, and we just wanted to learn how to say "Best Meatball of my Life." Needless to say, after we asked him how to say that in Turkish, he brought us back to the hotel so we could nap.

Goreme!

Somehow, I had never heard of this region previously; however Budget Travel magazine had, as that night Alli took us to a neighboring village to a restaurant called "Old Greek House" (that's right, Old Greek House in Turkey; there is much Greek influence here) which was featured in BT magazine earlier this year.

After another great meal with excellent wine and lots more kofte, we got in Alli's car once again and traveled just out of the town to see a performance of the Whirling Dervishes at a nearby castle. The Whirling Dervishes perform traditional Turkish dance featuring all male dancers. Lib really enjoyed it, but after running around all day, I must admit to napping for a bit mid-dervish.

The next day, we ventured out early as we had something on the itinerary I was really looking forward to, as it was a first-time experience for me: a hot air balloon ride over the Cappadocia area. The pictures, again, can speak for themselves:

Ballooning it up, up, WAYYYY UP in Cappdocia

Notice I am extremely excited even afterwards when presented with my certificate of flight.

The best part of this photo is the dude on the left fixing his hair.

We continued another full day by seeing some more rock formations with a different guide, and getting accosted by a salesman that wrapped our head's in a turban like concoction (we did not buy one).

I like to accesorize, note the matching green travel shirt.

From there, we trekked through the Red Valley, taking in pigeon holes in the caves, more churches, and then we stumbled upon a man selling tea seemingly in the middle of nowhere, concluding that he has The Best Job in the World.


Our hike was cut short because we needed to meet another girl who was to join us in the afternoon, and so we headed off to have more kofte and meet her, and then drove to another small town which has an underground city which I think was called Meskendir. Despite my claustrophobic tendencies I handled the underground city OK, but preferred the outdoor, open-air activities. Before our tour day ended we caught a panoramic view of the valley and the Ortahisar Castle, and sampled some organic Turkish Viagra (almonds, corn nuts, you know, the usual).

Quite the pad

This man was only selling NATUREL Viagra.

After two packed days in Cappadocia we again headed off to catch another overnight bus the same night, this time to Pammakale. This overnight bus was a little more brutal, and despite my best efforts some of my B.A. was becoming exposed. However, later that day it had passed.

Pammakale is in Central Anatolia, known as the land of the rising sun. Ancient Greeks first settled here for about 200 years until an earthquake destroyed the city, then Romans came and made it a center for health and trade. There was a huge Roman amphitheatre there as well as natural hot springs we were able to bathe in (which was surprisingly pleasant even though it was hot out; no shower + an overnight bus = hot springs are awesome).

Roman Amphitheater. Drew quite the crowds back in the day.

The main draw to Pammukale though is to walk across this large area of limestone which is quite stark in comparison to the rest of the landscape and quite beautiful, though the barefoot walk is not like walking on shag carpet by any stretch of the imagination.

The barefoot journey in Pammakale.

This time our tour group was about 10 people, with a mix of Australians, Indonesians and a few others. We again had too much for lunch (on these tours most of the lunches were in large mess hall places with a generous buffet) and were again exhausted by the time our approximately 21 year old tour guide dropped us back at the hotel. Before another bus ride (this time an evening ride, not an overnighter) I was able to take a dip in the pool where we were storing our bags, which is always a pleasure. By the time we reached Kusadasi (a western Turkish city) that night, I was exhausted but looking forward to more sights the next day.

Stay tuned for a summary of a trip to the Virgin Mary's house and a Turkish Bath...

Bier Kofte Lutfen

One Meatball Please
June 6th - 13th

1979. The year of my birth.

2009. The year I turn 30.

Two milestones, if you will, for me. And since my current (mostly) Indian adventure is taking place during the year I bid my 20's goodbye, my close friend Libby and I had planned for quite some time to celebrate in style (she, too, will welcome her 30th year this August).

Thus, we decided to embark on an Excellent European Adventure of sorts. Initially planning to hit five countries, we narrowed our scope to just two: Turkey and Greece.

Our expedition launched in Istanbul, Turkey, where my friend Abdullah from my Indiana University days lives. A gracious host, Abdullah took us in and for four days showed us his city.

He resides on the Asia side of Istanbul, so we bounced around from Asia to Europe and back again more than a few times via ferry (and you could consume tea on the ferry, so it was all the better). It was once again so nice to feel like a visitor somewhere rather than simply a tourist, and the first day, after a delightful nap on his couch, we saw octopus, ate sardines, walked through the Taksim tourist area of the city, ate kofte (meatballs!) and picked up Libby at midnight from the airport.

Apo and I at about 2 a.m. trying to get a bus, a taxi, anything. Bright eyed all the way!

Having reunited with Lib in Istanbul of all places, we hit up many of the major must-sees the next day, going first to Topkapi Palace to see a centuries old Harem, the Spoonmaker's Diamond, an impressive throne room, and people reading the Koran for 24 hours straight inside, non-stop.

Me at my hang out.

We next headed to the Aya Sofia church that I believe used to be a mosque. From the photo you can get a small understanding of its beauty.

From Aya Sofia we went directly across the square to the Sultanahmat AKA the Blue Mosque which also was breathtaking, with hundreds of people filing in and out, we spent some time sitting outside listening to the Call to Prayer.

The Blue Mosque

Having sufficiently hit up major tourists spots for much of the day, we spent the rest engaging in my favorite past times, eating and drinking! We tried some baklava (delicious), Turkish delights (very sweet), and Turkish coffee (you read your fortune out of the cup after you drink it) and even were privy to witnessing a Barack Obama made out of baklava as well; not the run of the mill thing you might expect in Turkey.

Obama Baklava

We rounded out the evening at a pub in Taksim, an area teeming with bars, restaurants and tons of gorgeous Turkish people. We tried some Raki, a traditional Turkish alcohol that tastes like black licorice (not my favorite thing), and were treated to the live music stylings of a duo of a guitar player and flutist, which alone seeing the flaunting male flutist is enough to garner up my desire to visit Istanbul again.

Cheers to Turkey!

Before boarding the bus back to Asia, we spied a restaurant named Pink Kofte (AKA Pink Meatball). We did not get to eat there on this trip, but this, too, builds my desire to return to Istanbul. It also sparked my desire to learn the useful Turkish phrase, Bier Kofte Lutfen (One Meatball Please).

At our favorite restaurant that we did not peruse.

Abdullah is a professor at Marimar University, and the next day we went to see his campus and met people in his department (some of whom I think were bewildered that I quit my job to go on this adventure, but they also mentioned I could apply to their PhD program). We then headed to the famous Grand Bazaar, one of the largest Bazaars in the world where you can find everything from Turkish lamps to tacky t-shirts. I loved it.

Awesome lamps.

After a coffee and spotting of a Turkish television star who Abdullah knew (we totally got his pic with him, oh yes), we walked a bit and I finally lived my dream of eating sweet corn from a street vendor (does not compare to Iowa sweet corn, however). A short stop at a travel agent lined up our journey for the next few days to central and western Turkey, and then we continued our theme of eating by loading up on more Kofte and also Turkish bread from some street vendors. We hit up the Spice Bazaar, too, where Libby bought many spices and I bought some Love Potion; I will keep you all updated on the odds of how that is working out.

My new secret weapon.

We continued our marathon-tour day by buying a large block of white cheddar cheese which we proceeded to eat off of for the next few days. This is no joke; I have been in cheese withdrawal and it was super tasty, plus the guy cutting the cheese was smoking a cig as he sliced it. Classy. We then headed to the Rustem Pasa, or tiled mosque, for a quick view inside.

Pseudo-burkas at the Tiled Mosque

We then hopped over to the water's edge and took a mini-cruise on the Bosphorous in the evening. Taking in the city from the water while sipping fresh-squeezed orange juice and gnawing on a block of cheese was a true delight.

After the cruise I fought my fatigue and we journeyed over to Galata Tower to see the sunset on Istanbul. Galata Tower was built in during the Byzantine era under Emperor Justinianus. It's 61 meters high from ground and 140 meters from sea level and was captured by The Turks in 1453. As you can see we enjoyed taking in the history.

Holla for TURKEY!

You are my setting sun, Istanbul.

That night continued with good food and drinks as we ate ice cream you had to cut with a knife and fork and also hit up a small bar on the seventh floor of a building that played music from around the world--walking into the sounds of Amanda Palmer from the Dresden Dolls I knew we had hit upon a gem.

After our action-packed tourist day, the next morning I went for a jog (training for a half marathon while traveling is not highly recommended, I must add) and then we sorted out our travel details for Greece while Abdullah treated us to a traditional Turkish breakfast of Borek, a tasty flaky pastry. We finally moved out in the early afternoon and after running to catch the ferry and narrowly evading falling flat on our faces on the ferry due to an unexpected boat lurch, we headed to a small restaurant near the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque to have the Water Pipe (AKA Hookah). Smoking the apple hookah and drinking Turkish coffee while listening to the call to with two good friends--I could get used to this.

We said goodbye to Abdullah after a delightful dinner and knew we would miss him as we boarded our night bus to head to Cappadocia in central Turkey. Having not seen him for nearly six years it was great to reconnect and we saw more in Istanbul then we could have mustered on our own.

If you got through all of this, you can tell we packed in a ton of stuff in just a few days. Istanbul is a city with a lot of charm and is tourist friendly (though I am very grateful we had Abdullah to guide us). I highly recommend a visit!

Top Ten Things I loved about Istanbul:
1. Kofte
2. Bread
2. Tea in the glass tea cups
3. Ice Cream
4. Corn from the street vendors
5. Lights in Taksim
6. Flutist
7. People fishing all over the place
8. Hookah
9. Call to prayer
10. Turkish coffee

Yes, I realize seven of the ten things are food/drink related. :)

My favorite lights on a street in Taksim.