Illustrious Istanbul

With the big Western Europe cities (Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam) out of the way, I set my eyes on my next destination in Europe's easternmost facade, in the epicenter of religion, culture and history itself: Istanbul.

We spent four devastatingly short days in the city. Here are a few highlights of the trip.

First things first: the food. Oh sweet baby Jesus. Nobody had told me about the food in Turkey. So I, level 99 ignorant American, had pretty much no expectations...maybe just some hummus here and there, or er, a giant turkey leg, like the ones sold in Disney World?

My feeble mind was quickly blown away. Everything was so simple yet tasted incredible. My first meal there was basically just a plate of some soupy beans. But by god, I swear they were the tastiest soupy beans in this planet. And it was all uphill from there.

Turkish style tacos with meat (lamb and chicken), fresh salsa, veggies and wraps.

Ayran, a cold yogurt drink, was often served along with our meals. It reminds me a lot of suan nai in China,
but here it was eaten with salt and cumin! Fun fact: it's even served in McDonalds in Turkey.

The fellas showing off the fresh fish they caught bought for lunch.

A bit of Turkish coffee to savor after lunch

Colorful candy being rolled up by a street vendor

Gooey!

I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the ubiquitous Turkish tea that was served in a tulip-shaped glass at almost every meal. Perhaps it was because I was too busy burning my fingers on the glass. Burnt fingers notwithstanding, the tea was lovely and I began to look forward to it every day.

Photo from www.istanbulfoodbazaar.com

We were also fortunate enough to see some of our fellow ThoughtWorkers cross the finish line in the Istanbul half marathon!

Then we began a whirlwind few days of sightseeing - starting with the breathtaking Hagia Sophia, of course.

#photosruinedbytourists

So much history reflected on the walls

ThoughtWorkers in the Haghia Sophia!

And just a hop and a skip away, the stunning Blue Mosque:

The boy's scandalously uncovered arms rock the nation

Surreal, isn't it?

Afterwards, we ducked out of the sunlight and into the nearby Basilica Cistern. It was incredible to learn that they had been constructed by the Romans all the way back in the 6th century. Also, having read Dan Brown's Inferno (I know, I know...) I was really excited to see what they were like in person. They didn't disappoint.

Robert Langdon was here.

Next stop on the Tourist Express was the Topkapi Palace. This was by far the most touristy of all the sites. Although the palace itself was lovely, the crowds became a bit overbearing and we didn't linger too long here.

The sultan's harem

Palace mugshot

A Nimbus 2000 appears

And of course, no trip to Istanbul would be complete without a peek (ok, more like 2 hours) in the Grand Bazaar, where smoky spices beckoned to my wallet and colorful scarves tugged at my heartstrings as I walked slowly through the stalls, head swaying from side to side, trying to take in all the goods on display.

He did not purchase this hat, though looking back I sort of wish he had.

In the end I didn't purchase much - just a ceramic pointed shoe that I thought would make a nice vase (one day, when I have a permanent home), but my travel companion made away with a huge gorgeous blue lamp that got wrapped in what seemed like eighty million layers of cardboard and then assaulted with a bazillion yards of packing tape. How she will manage to unpackage that lamp is a mystery that the world may never see unraveled.

One distinctly touristy thing we didn't do was take a Turkish bath, or a hammam. The idea certainly was appealing but we simply never found the time...ah well, it'll have to happen in another visit.

Along our adventures, I noticed many stray animals roaming the streets as well. Most were just snoozin' along...

But a few furballs were definitely out and about, doing their thing.

You kids get off my lawn right meow!

Thirsty thirsty dog bear fluffball.

This may or may not have been a real bear.

And in the evening, we'd retreat back to our friend's apartment, which was literally in one of the two adjoining Trump Towers of Istanbul and had some pretty incredible views as a result:

One thing that I found slightly puzzling was the public transit system. Istanbul had incredibly sophisticated network of bus routes along with a sprawling subway system, yet none of it was available on Google Maps. Even going to the subway or bus stop didn't prove to be very useful, as physical maps were scarce to come by and there could be long lines at the help desk.

With the help of some locals we were able to orient ourselves after the first day or so but it was definitely a bit intimidating to navigate the huge city. I definitely think this is an opportunity for technologists to take advantage of open data to build some cool navigation and map tools.

And another observation I made was how friendly the locals were. I was constantly taken aback by the sheer kindness that others showed us. So many times, strangers would go out of their way to make sure we boarded the right bus or got to the right station. One time a man on the bus even paid for our bus fare when our tickets didn't scan. He waved off our attempts at paying him back.

Like all vacations, our last day came all too soon and I was kicking myself for not booking a longer stay. I would love to return to Turkey and see the hot air balloons in Cappadocia or visit the country's famous beachside. Heck, I would come back if there any weren't stunning sights, just as long as they were still serving that delicious Turkish food!

Barcelona: Days 3 & 4

The last half of our time in Barcelona was spent languidly. Having been a tad overambitious in our sightseeing in the first two days, we now found ourselves in a curious predicament of not chasing a list of a bazillion things to do or see.

With this newfound downtime, I was able to dive into Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns one sunny afternoon while the boy took a nap. I had started the novel on the flight to Barcelona and was absolutely hooked on Lalia and Mariam's story by the time we'd landed; with the boy asleep, now was the perfect opportunity to voraciously inhale the rest of this haunting, emotionally-riveting book.

I managed to hold it all in until the last few pages of the book. There the floodgates opened and I started blubbering like a baby.

The boy woke up, confused as to why I was clutching onto the (now-soaked) last pages of the book and having an all-out ugly cry. I assured him that everything was ok and that my face was only temporarily impersonating the Great Wave Off Kanagawa.

Anyway, erm, I highly recommend that book. Really heart-wrenching story about two women's lives in Afghanistan. Just don't wear mascara or plan to venture out into society for a while.

After I'd recuperated from my glass box of emotions, we went and took a nice, non-emotional walk where the boy tried to cheer me up by impersonating a giant lobster.

The following day was Easter Sunday, the only gloomy morning of the trip. It was the perfect opportunity to head back to La Sagrada Familia for some more exploring - this time with a roof over our heads.

The inside of the basilica was absolutely jaw-dropping. Soaring white columns that branched hundreds of feet up into the canopy, stained glass in every color of the rainbow, geometric patterns strewn amongst the tiniest details to the most resplendent features... Gaudi's hyperboloid forest was simply incredible. Neck muscles permitting, I could have stared at the ceiling forever.

My pictures hardly do any justice:

After a few hours of touring the museum that housed Gaudi's early works and models of the church, we reluctantly pried ourselves away. On the way out, we stopped into the much homelier parish church where Easter Mass was being conducted in Catalan. Although I consider myself an atheist and understood none of what the priest was saying, it was comforting to quietly observe all the worshippers on this very meaningful day for them, and I was glad to have witnessed a part of it, even for just a few minutes.

In the evening, we walked over to the Magic Fountain for the 8 PM show. We settled in at around 7:30 and watched a crowd begin to gather around the huge fountain.

More like squib fountain

8 PM passed; then 8:30 PM. Still no magic. While we waited we chatted up the young man who was next to us waiting for the show. He was from Southern California, had just graduated from college and was taking a few weeks off to explore Europe before pursuing his full-time dream of a career as a bounty hunter.

We ended up ditching what was quickly becoming a very unmagical fountain and heading to dinner with our new acquaintance. Now I'm not the most extroverted traveler and usually don't seek the company of strangers, so this was a somewhat unusual experience for me. The three of us ended up having a great conversation over dinner and exchanging our European travel tips and recommendations. At the end of dinner, we thanked each other for the company, bid adieus and parted ways.

And thus concluded the final evening of our time in Barcelona. Overall, I loved my time in Barcelona (minus the attempted wallet theft); it is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. I was surprised to learn how different it seemed to be (and wanted to be) from the rest of Spain. So even though I've obviously stepped foot in Spain, I'm very curious to go back and visit the rest of the country - especially the south - and see for myself how different it is from the Barcelona/Catalan way of life.

It'll be hard to beat, that's for sure. As they say, "Barcelona es mucho más!"