Best of Istanbul

Before moving on to the surreal loveliness of the Prince's Island, I feel as though I need to take a few minutes to wrap up Istanbul. I have been told that Istanbul doesn't fully represent Turkish culture, in a very similar way that Milan does not fully represent Italy. The modernity and commercialism of Istanbul apparently dilute the charm and authenticity of the traditional Turkish culture, at the same time that it enhances the diversity and complexity of the city itself. If the warmth I felt in Istanbul is only the tip of the iceberg, I have to say without a doubt that Turkey is the most welcoming and gracious country I've been to, and I will certainly be back to explore the rest. This post will contain a few examples of my favorite images and memories from Istanbul that haven't made it in yet.
The picture above and below represent the playfulness and fun of Istanbul. These ice-cream carts are sprinkled all around the city, touting a special thick (think taffy) ice-cream made of full fat goat's milk and wild orchid pollen (a treat I only found the need to try once...). When you bought your ice cream, it was no simple, rapid transaction. The seller would scoop the ice cream out with his metal pole, use the blob of ice cream to pick up and hand you a cone, and then go through a playful routine of taking away the cone, or leaving the cone without ice cream, spinning the cone around, and finally handing you your treat. Look at the first picture, my mom is thinking "oh, how nice, he handed me an ice cream cone stuck to his metal pole," and in the next picture, Nat is cracking up due to the shenanigans. The people we met were so genuinely friendly, and so eager to engage, hear your story and tell you theirs.

Another part of Turkish culture I loovveeed (bias alert, I am a vegetarian) was their treatment of animals. Turkish people believe that you should treat animals the way you want God to treat you. Needless to say, the animals in Turkey were loved, fed, and otherwise well cared for. Calling the ever present menagerie of cats and dogs strays would be inaccurate, they were more like beloved visitors and friends. The animals were all so gentle (I didn't touch them, I promise) and peaceful, not at all like the skittish, edgy strays I've seen elsewhere. The government tags the dogs and brings them in to be vaccinated, etc on a regular basis. Our guide said the Turks
are horrified by our "humane societies," or kill shelters where an animal has a brief amount of time to get adopted or is put down. Just play out that scenario in your head through the lens of treating animals as you wish God to treat you, it makes me shudder just a little. All this to say, the Turkish people are gentle and compassionate.

I just had to sneak one more picture of Hagia Sophia in here. You've already read all about that, and how I feel Hagia Sophia is a concrete symbol for tolerance and understanding.
This was the view from my hotel room. I love that it shows the deck on the hotel across the street (and the blue patch under the sky is actually the Bosporus straight). The rooftop living spaces were amazing- I loved eating breakfast every morning up on the roof, having to choose between views of the Bosporus, the Blue Mosque, and Hagia Sophia.I included the above picture because it is an example of my own incorrect presupposition. The architecture of Turkey surprised me. I don't know what I was expecting exactly, but I wasn't expecting all the wooden, rectangular grandeur. The Ottaman style houses were so beautiful (just wait till you see the pics from Prince's Island!). And the colors were so vibrant!

That wraps up my time in Istanbul. I hope that I've passed on, even fractionally, how incredible of a city it is. I hope that my future travels will lead me back someday, and I hope that you go as well!

Katie