Wish-tanbul You Were Here

It's happening again; I’m living your best life for you. And I am bragging about it (late) again. Sorry not sorry. Okay, okay, I wish you ALL could have been in Istanbul. So, let's use old, outdated words for an old, but not at all outdated city: I was ensorcelled (don’t @me, Disney doesn’t own the word...yet) seeing the extent of the comely city from rooftops. However, this isn't a case of winsome Suzanne having a feeling of schadenfreude that you're all back in Arizona without her. You have rain! You have fall weather! Pumpkins! Cozy sweaters! A cornucopia of Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations at Target! And most importantly, real alcohol at a fair and economical price.

Look, if it makes you feel better, the cab driver wouldn't even take us all the way to the hotel. Said it was too difficult to drive to the hotel front, which I believed. So, there we were doing the most annoying touristy thing I can think to do: footslogging with our luggage through the cobblestone streets interrupting the café society's intimate dining experiences with the clink clinkity clunkity clunk of our wheels. Redemption was mine, though, as the very next morning other wide-eyed tourists were duplicating our tune of the preceding eve.

Kilometers away from the rapacious, rich-as-Croesus middle school students and some mothers who allegedly troll my blog (hey gurl, thanks for the read; hope you're learning some new vocabulary. now go help your daughter with her homework) lies a new "Top 5 City." It's practically beddable.

Of course, I chose history for the first day and adventure time for the second. Classic first date/second date style.

Day 1: Visiting the Hagia Sophia (whoops; not the Blue Mosque which we must have missed being a little babalaas) was impressive. I thought there would be fully gilded walls and ceilings, but this beauty is perpetually under construction. With her history as an Eastern Orthodox Church beginning in 537 until the Ottoman Empire converted her into a mosque in 1453 and her transformation into a museum in 1935, it is no wonder that repairs must be made. Still, I wanted mint-condition grandeur. For a mosque-museum, though, my jaw did drop standing in one of the "7 New Wonders of the World" with her dome epitomizing Byzantine architecture and the nostalgic smell of "living" history. (Sounds dumb, but my teacher friends get it, right?)

Next, hoodwinked, yet still august was the Basilica Cistern, the largest of hundreds of cisterns in the city. "I really wish you would have been a catacomb and/or had real 'Medusa heads' as advertised," I murmured into the darkness. I don't know why this affair brought me temporary dismay, but I think when our guide mentioned "heads," my mind went straight to a guillotine exhibition or a classic display of spooky skulls. (Zayra, remember when I googled "human skulls in interior design" because we couldn't remember "Dia de los Muertos?" Some Mexican you are...) I did, nonetheless, feel suitably historic in the well-preserved, murky underbelly of Istanbul as I struggled to avoid the malaise of breathing in the fusty odor of centuries of use.

meh

One might think that I am criticizing or listing a series of "unfortunate" events and wonder why I claim that Istanbul is in my Top 5, but fear not. It's more nuanced: My pre-trip expectations would have been too much for anyone… err… any city to live up to, but Istanbul got closer to those unrealistic expectations than any man -- city could. Basically, I did not manage my expectations well, so I was surprised, yet satisfied in a way one rarely is anymore with anyone… err, any place.

Day 2: We traveled by ferry to the Asian side to kayak in the Bosphorous; I felt ensconced in the history of a city at a turning point of history in the Islamic world. Usually I am the obstreperous one in the room, and this intrepid kayaking trip was no different, except that, for once, I wasn't the only or first one sssshhhhh-ed on the taxi-bus. Airbnb Tours did not disappoint as we paddled our way up and down the coastline struggling to keep up with our guide (yes, I allowed him to tether us so we could make it though the choppy waters), but four hours turned into a whole day of playing Transportation BINGO - walk, ferry, taxi-bus, kayak, city bus, BINGO. This expedition allowed for a taste of real Istanbul with a wealth of street vendors selling simit, a sesame seed-coated Turkish bagel - very Ottoman Empire-esque, as I was coaxed into devouring one from sheer exhaustion even though I am "avoiding carbs."

To close out an everyday, athletic afternoon, nothing beats a good rooftop dining experience. Mike Davis, you win the recommendations round.

Roof Mezza 360

I'd like to think I have a good travel acumen, but I should have budgeted an entire week to explore both the Asian and European sides of Istanbul. I totally get why Matt and Jenn were able to live and teach here for a year and still feel like they didn't see everything. I really do miss-tanbul. Be back soon since I didn't buy one damn souvenir. Yup, I forgot to get you all things; I'm the worst. All I wanted was a kaftan, yet I was too busy drinking champagne at every café and goggling at the panoramic views. Okay, but Bunky Boutique has an item called the "Istanbul Floral Kaftan" so maybe I just buy that and wear it on my return trip? I mean, I do have to go shopping at the Grand Bazaar again as it is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, and I only went there at close to buy Turkish Delight.