Walking the Winding Streets

Had a late night last night. Ali (Mark's nephew who lives in Istanbul) came to visit and we went to a restaurant specializing in Ottoman cuisine. Food is similiar to what we know as Turkish, but includes fruits with the meat and some different flavors which are delicious.  On our way back, we stopped at the Hippodrome - now a park in front of the Blue Mosque. The night market was open, there was a popular concert of traditional Turkish music, and in yet another part of the park - a Whirling Dervish spinning and spinning until I got dizzy for him.  Even towards midnight, the park was busy with families enjoying the activities.

Jumped out of bed this morning...more like moved slowly out of bed as the travel aches had set in - likely from sleeping in odd positions on the flight. Anticipation of breakfast was what got us up.  Turkish breakfasts are wonderful.  Yogurts, different kinds of cheeses and meats, watermelon, peaches, melons, breads and jams, dried fruits, musli, and fresh orange juice they made when asked.   The tea selection is impressive. I counted 14 kinds including sage, hibiscus, lemon and some I couldnt figure out.

We hiked over to Eminonu, near Galata Bridge.  We were checking out the Bosphorus ferry for tomorrow, but also wanted to check out the famous Bosphorus. There are so many boats, it looked like a freeway. Including boats just turning across the water to the other side, crossing in front of 'lanes' of boats. yikes! 

 I had to try the balik ekmek - literally fish and bread.  They cook the fish on boats along the waterfront and stick the fish into a roll with alot of sweet onions. You can sit at small tables that are about 10" square and 12" high. This is ok because the 'stools' are equally miniature as well. It made me realize that ALOT of Americans wouldnt fit on these.  Mark was fascinated by the rows of fishermen trying to catch the very small fish zooming back and forth under the bridge.  The fishermen were having as much luck as he's been having in Florida.

Next up was the nearby Spice Market.  Mark and I were in foody heaven, surrounded by olives, figs, cheeses, rows and rows of different spices and teas.  The smells!  The colors! 

A 'few' spice choices

Dried eggplant, peppers

Sardines

Turkish delight in towers (nuts in a chewy gel)

We still needed to fill in some historical culture, so off we went to Topkapi Palace. This large compound housed up to 5000 people at the height of the Ottoman empire.  Sultan Mehmet built the original buildings in 1400's and was sure to include a large area to house and support his harem.  Topkapi is on a hill overlooking the Bosphorus for a great defense advantage.

Like Aya Sofya the day before, the palace is much more developed for tourists complete with security checks and higher quality displays for some of the artifacts.  14 years ago, we just wandered around and tried to figure out what we were seeing in the dark rooms.  Now the jewels and sultan caftans are displayed with proper lighting and descriptions.  Of course, it also costs alot more to view.   Views...the view from the palace terrace was amazing. The tile work was intricate and colorful. It was nice to see that restoration work is continuing as they work on whole sections of the palace that havent been repaired in hundreds of years.

Mark guards Topkapi

Room to celebrate the fall of Bagdad. Tile, pearl,wood inlays

Sultan Mehmet watches the Bosporus

Entrance to the inner sanctum...only sultan family after this spot.

Istanbul From the Rooftop

I confess that I've not been looking forward to this trip to Turkey merely from the stumbling block of having to get here.  Now that I've weathered the expected uncomfortable, no sleep, bad food flight, I'm SO EXCITED to be here. Am writing this from our hotel rooftop, overlooking both the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya (the largest Christian church until St Peter's in Rome was built), and the Bosphorus.  There is a pleasant breeze at sunset cooling us off...along with the Efes beer... from our first day hitting the streets of Istanbul.  So far today, compared with my visit 14 years ago,  I've discovered that I DO like Turkish Delight when it is not mass produced, there are many more uncovered/recovered Christian mosaics in the Aya Sofia (that was converted to a mosque after the Muslims conquered the Christians in the holy wars and mosaics were covered up with plaster...which probably preserved them these hundreds of years), the city is wired and you can get on internet anywhere, more English, span of women's fashions from European styles to conservative to fully covered in black.  No veils yet which has been nice to see.   We are here during Ramadan but, as promised by Mark, I am able to readily find food which is a great relief! 

Aya Sophya's Christian mosaics

Aya Sophya  - they charge to get in now!

Grand Bazaar - you can get lost here, and we did!

Blue Mosque

View of ships in Bosphorus, waiting to port.

glimpse of Blue Mosque from gate doorway

Happy Birthday Dad

Dad enthusiastically celebrated his 78th with great food and drink.....and loud family.  No Surprises there!!

John and Mark got the joke!

Well fed group

Farkel Time

I didn't grow up in 1 town, attend schools with the same group of friends, continue to work in the same town or even part of the country.  So, to be fortunate enough to enjoy friendships that have lasted over 30 years is special.

A weekend together with the 'Farkels' puts us in a time warp where no time has passed, except that we got wiser and more particular about our bed pillows.


In between talking, laughing, eating (thanks to our personal chef Mark), showing pictures and more talking, we road tripped to Tarpon Springs, the nearby Greek town to learn all the details of sponge
fishing (which seemed to start with 2 Greek men in a boat for long periods of time), and to go on a sunset boat trip to Anclote Key.


We ate great Greek food throughout the day partially to get into air conditioned buildings but also to try out various Greek dishes. Between olive oil, lamb, hummus, gyros, stuffed peppers and flaming cheese we were able to taste a few things!

As you can see, the  sunset was stunning.  It needed to be because it was so HOT! 

Becky explores Anclote Key

Pam enjoys the boat

Joanne is really really hot and sweaty

            

Mango Man

Still in Homestead and checking out the flora.  The Turk realized that mangoes and other exotic fruits are everywhere down here.  We headed out to Robert Is Here,  a roadside produce market with eccentric Homestead genes.  Farm animals, exotic fruits, veggies, umpteen kinds of honey, and...fresh smoothies made from any of their fruits. YUM!!!!!

Then off to the Fruit and Spice park!   30 acres of trees with over 500 varieties of fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs, and nuts.  Because of the freezes this past winter, the fruits were lean and we were told NOT to pick any.  We had to say this many times to the Turk who 'looks' at fruits with his hands and mouth. 

We enjoyed a tram ride around the world of trees and flowers. And had a great time with bro Tim and Mick.

Odd Goings On At Coral Castle

The Turk and I traveled down to Ft. Lauderdale to visit brother Tim and Micki.  We decided to play tourist and ended up in Homestead (the initial target of Hurricane Andrew's devastation back in 1992).  Besides the air force base, Homestead is mostly farmland and a stopping off point for the Everglades.  After our visit, I decided it is also a stopping off point for eccentric people.

I came to this conclusion after visiting the Coral Castle. (Listen to Leonard Nimoy's description and the mystery that surrounds these structures).  The structures of the castle are solid coral rock - some weighing twice as much as the stones used in the Pyramids.  What's the mystery?  Ed Leedskalnin built this himself between 1920 to 1940.  Ed was a skinny, 5 ft tall guy from Latvia who came to the US after his fiance canceled their wedding. He was heartbroken and this project was his monument to his love.

There are some unique (weird) things about this site. The site was developed in alignment with true north so you can look through the tall rock (telescope) and see the North Star. There is also a magnetic impact to this alignment.  The guide had me stand in a spot, central to the site, and told the Turk to stand behind me.  I was told to just relax. When I did, I felt an even pressure throughout my body pushing me backwards, stronger as I began to fall back.  Mark caught me and we were all surprised!  Everyone around us tried this - with the same results.  We were all pulled/pushed in a direction.

 
There is a 9 ton swinging door that one can move. For 50 years, this door was movable by using 2 fingers.  The bearings started going bad, so an engineering firm used lasers, massive equipment and a crew of men to extract the coral door and replace the bearings. The new bearings have lasted 12 years and it now takes a strong push to move the 9 ton door.... and the modern bearings need replacing already! So, how did Ed do this with no lasers, no modern equipment and no help?

We were directed to one of many coral chairs. This was a lounge chair and quite comfortable. Supposedly it is a 'healing' chair. So we had to check it out.  There was a 5000 pound heart shaped table, another table the shape of Florida complete with Lake Okeechobee. Ed built his 'throne' and a side chair for his lost love.  There are carvings in the shape of a crescent moon, Saturn, and Mars. In October 2008, these were aligned exactly as they appear along the wall.  So this Ed guy had some interesting things going on!

Sunny SoCal

We had a great time visiting Tulin in Santa Monica/LA. Got to visit some places I'd always wanted to go to - Griffith Park Observatory, Venice along the canals, walk Venice and Santa Monica beaches. Tulin was a great tour guide and made sure the Turk and I saw lots of things and ate well. You can see the Monster Burrito below. 

I noticed a new trend in California that didnt yet exist when we left the state 3 years ago - tea menus.  I had a meeting in Palo Alto at a coffee shop, and I ordered green tea which I thought was specific enough. Not! I was presented a tea menu. MENU!!!  Listed like fine wines were pages of loose teas, complete with country of origin, ingredients and flavor descriptions including undertones and essences.  When the tea arrived, it came in a pot, with a cup, on a tray.     Then, when I ordered green tea in a small Santa Monica diner, I was shown a tea menu on the wall.  I was presented with a cute tea pot with loose tea leaves and my cup.  I just dont see that happening here in Dunedin...but ya never know.

Another food finding - in 'food cities' like NYC, SF, Santa Monica there are traveling food trucks - those silver trucks that have been popular at lunch time to construction workers, serving cheap eats. Well, now they serve gourmet foods in well healed neighborhoods.  The one we saw, Cool Haus, created customized ice cream sandwiches.  You pick the cookie flavor (oatmeal, ginger, chocolate chip, etc) and then the ice cream (cinnamon, lemon, strawberry, mint chip, etc). Now THIS i could see making it big in Dunedin!!