1/8/2010
Today was a big day. Today was the first day we went to Asia.
N.B. (not everyone in Asia speaks Mandarin… that Chinese for you uncultured folk)
We met Şadi “the magnificent” at the metro station in Taksim. The metro that takes you to Kabataş (the ferry station) runs at a 45 degree angle downhill. This means that all the cars are terraced down to accommodate the slope. There is about a 4 foot difference between the front of the car and the back of the car.
NB: ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act): If you are wheel chair bound in Turkey you’re screwed. Seriously everything is steep and has stairs. The fire escapes are spiral stair cases that are probably more dangerous than the fire. They look cool though.
We arrived at the ferry and went to the Asian side. At first we went by old universities that had buildings so massive that they left the viewer mesmerized and then saddened at their deteriorating conditions. But further into the Asian side we found that a lot of the area was extremely new and modern. It would remind one of a western European country, or urban form of LA with broad boulevards and tall spread out buildings. The Asian side has areas that are poorer and more religious, but many people prefer the amenities and life style that newer areas give. We drove back over the “first bridge” a massive suspension bridge that crosses the Bospherous to pick up “Team” member #3, Patrick Franke.
We picked pat up and drove back to the apartment and Sadi left.
NB: Sadi was the greatest person Will and I could ask for. He helped us so much in the last couple days we can’t even fit it all into print. Without his help we would still be stuck at the airport.
We then decided to go out for some dinner. We got Kebaps, Doner, and Pide, at a small restaurant. We also decided to get some “Ayran”. Ayran is a yogurt based local favorite. Ayran is the first thing Turkish that hasn’t been incredible. Between the three of us we took three sips. Will: “it tasted like salted, curdled, goats milk, frothed, and sipped though straw in chilled mug.” Supposedly, it is an acquired taste; we’ll try again in a month or so and report back.
We then went out to show Pat the town and discovered a few of many rooftop and upper floor bars that the city has to offer. These are usually cheaper, younger, less touristy, and play better music. Many have incredible views of the city. Getting up to these bars can be a bit tricky: old stair cases, back alleys, and in one case an elevator we didn’t know how to exit. We then sampled some Rakı to end the night.
NB: Rakı (pronounced ra-ku) is a black liquorish tasting spirit that you mix with water, similar to the Greek Ouzo. We all thoroughly enjoyed this fine Turkish custom.
-Lee (edited by the ever patient Will)
*special note concerning pictures* We have been having a few camera difficulties, dead batteries, full memory card ... etc. Be patient and we will soon have a flikr up with more pictures than you could ever want to see!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Day three, still amazed by the city
Woke up this morning. Always a good thing. Definitely feeling the remnants of the night before.
So Will and I plunged into the fray last night and decided to go out. The off streets of Istiklal are an unending number of Bars/ Cafés/ Clubs that form a massive maze of people. We bumped around keeping our ears perked for that sweet sound of English. We met a girl from DC, she was not so cool. We then met some Turkish guys who wanted to practice English with us; they went to Istanbul University and were good guys. We bounced around a little more, and then went and got the ever so sweet solus burgers (see previous blog) which were still amazing and walked back (well we made a pit stop at the Hilton Pool, and then went home).
Drinks are not cheap in Istanbul, about 8tl ($5.33) for a pint, not terrible, but not nickel beer either. You pretty much drink Efes all the time, the Turkish national beer.
We woke up early and Murat the landlord came over to fix our internet. We then registered for language classes and Sadi (driver, best friend, only friend) took us driving up the Bosphorus almost to the Black Sea. It was like a whole different Istanbul. Amazingly we’d spent two days in Istanbul and still hadn’t seen the strait. It’s unbelievably blue and clear. The whole scene along the ocean is picturesque. Palaces, hotels, restaurants, and little main streets crowd the shorelines. Each area is a new town, but we drove about hour and we were still in Istanbul and everything was built up, the size of the city is massive.
NB: Rule of thumb for Istanbul, anything that can see the Bosphorus is much nicer and more expensive then areas that can’t. You can see the difference as you approach the top of a hill. The side which faces the water is always nice, the other side is always a little more dicey.
We ate at a sea side Bakil (fish) Restaurant; Sadi told us Turks “eat seafood, looking at the sea.” To make sure it’s fresh. We ate a bunch of different appetizers: eggplant hummus, seaweed noodles, huge kidney beans in tomato sauce, midye dolmasi, grilled calamari, and a bruchetta like salad. The best for me was “Midye Dolmasi” which is a fresh stuffed mussel. Will really enjoyed the seaweed dish. We would have been full after that amount of food, but then we got fish. It was sea bass. And there was no fillet or presentation or seasoning. When you order fish you get a grilled fish with the head, tail and everything. And it’s amazing, you have to pick through the bones but with nothing more than a little lemon, it was incredibly delicious. We have yet to have a bad meal in Turkey or even an average meal. So far the food is one of my favorite things. Will seconds this. It’s really varied and really good. We watched the ships roll in from the Black Sea (NB: The Black Sea is not actually black… little disappointing). It gets its name from the frequent storms and bad weather that have a knack for destroying ships.
We then went back to Taksim for coffee with Sadi and his girlfriend and home for naps.
After a deep nap, we decided to explore starting at 11pm. Things are still crazy till 3am and later. The streets are always packed with people, so it’s a late night city.
We ordered our first sit down meal in Turkey without Sadi, slightly difficult given the language barrier, we got “Pide” which is like Turkish Pizza, its pita like bread with all sorts of stuff on it, like a really good garlic bread shaped like a boat. Again, really good. When then decided to try to walk to the Golden Horn, which is a small river that separates the ancient part of the city from the less ancient part of the city. The roads are at a 60degree angle down and the area Beyoglu is really nice.
We then made it to the Galata Bridge which is a walking bridge with a train in the middle and underneath is restaurants, bars, and clubs. We walked across to the old city to just say we made it and began to walk back. We ended up stopping in a Shisha (hookah) bar for two hours and sipped tea while taking in a view that included the massive suspension bridge across the Bosporus all lit up, the Galata Tower, Topkopi (Ottoman’s Buckingham Palace), and a ton of massive mosques. A lot of people fish off the walking bridge above and although we never saw anyone catch anything, from the restaurants below you can see hundreds of fishing lines.
We then walked back amongst throngs of people.
NB: Who ever thought Muslims don’t party was dead wrong about the Turks. The bars were packed as we walked home. (Ramadan starts in ten days (Aug. 11) for 29 days and some Turks give up drinking instead of daily fasting during that time)
Jet lag is catching up to us.
-Lee (once again edited by Will, the grammar isn’t getting any better)
So Will and I plunged into the fray last night and decided to go out. The off streets of Istiklal are an unending number of Bars/ Cafés/ Clubs that form a massive maze of people. We bumped around keeping our ears perked for that sweet sound of English. We met a girl from DC, she was not so cool. We then met some Turkish guys who wanted to practice English with us; they went to Istanbul University and were good guys. We bounced around a little more, and then went and got the ever so sweet solus burgers (see previous blog) which were still amazing and walked back (well we made a pit stop at the Hilton Pool, and then went home).
Drinks are not cheap in Istanbul, about 8tl ($5.33) for a pint, not terrible, but not nickel beer either. You pretty much drink Efes all the time, the Turkish national beer.
We woke up early and Murat the landlord came over to fix our internet. We then registered for language classes and Sadi (driver, best friend, only friend) took us driving up the Bosphorus almost to the Black Sea. It was like a whole different Istanbul. Amazingly we’d spent two days in Istanbul and still hadn’t seen the strait. It’s unbelievably blue and clear. The whole scene along the ocean is picturesque. Palaces, hotels, restaurants, and little main streets crowd the shorelines. Each area is a new town, but we drove about hour and we were still in Istanbul and everything was built up, the size of the city is massive.
NB: Rule of thumb for Istanbul, anything that can see the Bosphorus is much nicer and more expensive then areas that can’t. You can see the difference as you approach the top of a hill. The side which faces the water is always nice, the other side is always a little more dicey.
We ate at a sea side Bakil (fish) Restaurant; Sadi told us Turks “eat seafood, looking at the sea.” To make sure it’s fresh. We ate a bunch of different appetizers: eggplant hummus, seaweed noodles, huge kidney beans in tomato sauce, midye dolmasi, grilled calamari, and a bruchetta like salad. The best for me was “Midye Dolmasi” which is a fresh stuffed mussel. Will really enjoyed the seaweed dish. We would have been full after that amount of food, but then we got fish. It was sea bass. And there was no fillet or presentation or seasoning. When you order fish you get a grilled fish with the head, tail and everything. And it’s amazing, you have to pick through the bones but with nothing more than a little lemon, it was incredibly delicious. We have yet to have a bad meal in Turkey or even an average meal. So far the food is one of my favorite things. Will seconds this. It’s really varied and really good. We watched the ships roll in from the Black Sea (NB: The Black Sea is not actually black… little disappointing). It gets its name from the frequent storms and bad weather that have a knack for destroying ships.
We then went back to Taksim for coffee with Sadi and his girlfriend and home for naps.
After a deep nap, we decided to explore starting at 11pm. Things are still crazy till 3am and later. The streets are always packed with people, so it’s a late night city.
We ordered our first sit down meal in Turkey without Sadi, slightly difficult given the language barrier, we got “Pide” which is like Turkish Pizza, its pita like bread with all sorts of stuff on it, like a really good garlic bread shaped like a boat. Again, really good. When then decided to try to walk to the Golden Horn, which is a small river that separates the ancient part of the city from the less ancient part of the city. The roads are at a 60degree angle down and the area Beyoglu is really nice.
We then made it to the Galata Bridge which is a walking bridge with a train in the middle and underneath is restaurants, bars, and clubs. We walked across to the old city to just say we made it and began to walk back. We ended up stopping in a Shisha (hookah) bar for two hours and sipped tea while taking in a view that included the massive suspension bridge across the Bosporus all lit up, the Galata Tower, Topkopi (Ottoman’s Buckingham Palace), and a ton of massive mosques. A lot of people fish off the walking bridge above and although we never saw anyone catch anything, from the restaurants below you can see hundreds of fishing lines.
We then walked back amongst throngs of people.
NB: Who ever thought Muslims don’t party was dead wrong about the Turks. The bars were packed as we walked home. (Ramadan starts in ten days (Aug. 11) for 29 days and some Turks give up drinking instead of daily fasting during that time)
Jet lag is catching up to us.
-Lee (once again edited by Will, the grammar isn’t getting any better)
Day two, even better than the first
Dated 30/7/2010
Today Will and I got up early and showered for the first time in our apartment. Our shower is little more than a hot water hose in the corner of a bathroom stall. We lacked shampoo and towels, but surprisingly bars of soap and t-shirts sufficed.
Sadi showed up around 11am and we set out to collect the items on a long list of needs. First we went to go get cell phones at TurkCell. We were essentially ripped by a sales man who had us buy a phone not telling us we could use our American phones even when we told them we had American phones. Then they wouldn’t accept returns. Anyways I got a new phone!
We then went to the bank. The bank sent us to go get social security numbers. We went and ate next to the Galata Tower instead. Sadi ordered us his two of his favorite dishes, a sliced beef dish in tomato sauce with peppers and another beef dish with eggplant humus. Delicious! The tower is sweet, hopefully we will make it up to the top soon. We then went to a soviet-esque DMV type bureaucratic center that was surprisingly pain free. Maybe the early description wasn’t merited, but we prepared for the worse as we went in. It looked like it was going to be bad and bad bureaucracy is legendary, according to Sadi.
Anyways we went back to the bank “AKBank” and set up accounts in which we didn’t have to pay any fees or put money into to open…. Yeah sounds like Lehman Brothers of Turkey.We bought maps and drove to a mall. This was unlike any mall we have experienced in the US. It was next to the new Trump towers and a couple other new tall buildings.
NB: We’ve noticed with the skyscrapers every tower is a “Dual” tower. They design one building and build it at least twice. This wouldn’t be too noticeable if it was a ten story building, but they only do it on their tallest buildings. It’s like having a mirror next to every tall building in the city. You’ll be inside one and wonder “what could this building possibly look like from the outside?” and then poof right next to it you’ll see the same building.
Back to the mall… It was huge. Six stories tall with huge open air atriums rising the full height. The largest atrium was covered by the biggest clock we’ve ever seen. The glass roof was the face of the clock with huge metal catwalks as the hands. Easily the biggest mall I’ve ever been in, every western, eastern, and other directional store you could imagine. Popeye’s ads were everywhere… everywhere. In the mall we went to a super market, which was good we got a bunch of stuff that we really needed: towels, shampoo, beer, and an orange dolphin shower mat. We then went to “Koctas” a store eerily familiar to a Home Depot, down to the bright orange aprons. Here we got more necessities like power adapters, fans, and lanterns, yes lanterns, apparently the power in our district goes out frequently so we need to be prepared. We then walked mall. It was really impressive, massive.
NB: We discovered that the sales tax in Turkey is a whopping 18%!!! 18%!!! We complain about 9% in NOLA.
We drove home with our bounty. We settled in with our new stuff and were ready to eat.
18%!!! Sorry to harp.
Anyways our new best friend Sadi (whether he wants to be or not) decided to take us to a Taksim Landmark. Kızılkayalarda which sold “solus”(sp?) hamburgers which roughly translates to special sauce hamburgers, think meatball sub, meets sloppy Joe with a little Turkish flare. Amazing. Incredible. And for only 2 Lira, heaven! We then ate “Doner” in a pressed wrap with cheese, also incredible. The shop was a hole in the wall opening directly onto Taksim. Here’s the funny thing the five hole in the wall shops on either side of this one served the exact same things and copied everything on the menu. Will said it right when he said we found our new binge food spot. We then went on our evening walk to find ITU Mimar (ITU architecture). The building is incredible. It is massive the hallways are at least 25ft tall and are so big they echo when you talk in them. The building is a former army infirmary from the Ottoman era. The center court yard is big and beautiful. The building is sadly crumbling, but walking near it or into it and anyone can understand its majesty. We saw a few boards from an Urban Planning class. Let’s say this, we’re going to have our work cut out for us, the work looked really good, so much for the idea of an easy abroad semester. That’s both good and bad news.
We then found a barbed wire lined passage back to our apartment from the school it’ll be about a 10-15 minute walk.
An extremely productive day. Thanks to Sadi. Such a g-d send or a Chadwick send.
Tonight, Will and I will attempt to go out in a city we don’t know, using a language we don’t know, to a bar that’s location is slightly unknown, this is going to be fun. One of the many reasons we came.
P.s. we’ve ignored jet lag
-Lee (edited by Will, his grammar and spelling is atrocious, not that mine is much better)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Our first day
Dated 29-7-2010 (crazy backwards Turkish writing system)
Will and Lee arrived in Turkey today, safe and sound and really excited!
It was a 10 hour flight from Chicago. We got to taste two terrible Turkish wines and both of the national beers, which weren’t bad (Toroug was much better then Effes). Lee sat next to an Air Forces officer headed for some small base in the east where he plays golf all the time (your tax dollars at work). Will sat next to a girl from Uzbekistan who was on her way home from school in the states, but was stopping in Istanbul because she said it was her favorite city in the world.
In customs we learned that the concept of the line is not a natural one too many people. A quite large group from Turkmenistan attempted to cut us in line multiply times and we had to employ “boxing out techniques” to maintain position. While we were pushed forward from behind by a pack of women, Will: “personal space is not a universal concept.”
Sadi, picked us up at the airport and drove us to our apartment. He got us our first real Turkish meal… Dominos Pizza!!!! Toppings included corn, sliced hotdogs, mushrooms, and peppers.
We drove into the city, traffic was crazy and the driving was crazier according to Sadi, “Driving in Turkey is like playing play station.” The drive in was breathtaking, we passed through ruined fortresses, ancient city walls, and under Roman aqueducts.
We arrived at the apartment and met the landlord. Let just say this about the apartment; we need to go outside to change our minds. In other words, it’s quite quant and yet quite nice. Our street is, for the most part, a nice family area. Some of the buildings appear to be brimming with life while others are abandoned and literally falling over. But the street itself was a constant source of activity and entertainment. There were small children playing soccer (futbol rather), dogs and cats running wild, all the while mothers shouted from balconies as they hung out the laundry. Our street is so small and the buildings are all five or six stories tall, making it feel like walking in a hallway. The buildings lean over the street and have creaky balconies that hang into the corridors that barely fit one small Turkish car.
Once the land lord, Murat, and Sadi left us in the apartment we started to have some problems. First we discover the bathroom door wouldn’t open and the key was jammed in the lock. We spent twenty minutes until we discovered you merely had to use a little elbow grease.
We unpacked a little but not fully and decided to go explore a little bit. We had a grand total of twenty New Turkish Lira (TYL). We know we needed toilet paper but we were also excited to see what we could get in this foreign land. We arrived in Takism Square in about ten minutes and then walked the unbelievable “Istiklal Caddesi” which was part Bourbon Street, part Time Square, meets Turkey. It was getting dark but instead of turning back we kept going, neither of us had ever seen that many people in one place or over such a long stretch (in retrospect maybe some of the big Mardi Gras parades, but this was a random, hot, Thursday night).
We then walked back. Bought toilet paper and headed home. We both were impressed that we were able to find our way home. The streets are such mazes, they’re incredible. There is no rhyme or reason to any of the placement.
We arrived home to no internet. Murat will get a call in the morning. We are now watching Turkish Soup Operas and making lists of stuff we need to get.
Will and Lee arrived in Turkey today, safe and sound and really excited!
It was a 10 hour flight from Chicago. We got to taste two terrible Turkish wines and both of the national beers, which weren’t bad (Toroug was much better then Effes). Lee sat next to an Air Forces officer headed for some small base in the east where he plays golf all the time (your tax dollars at work). Will sat next to a girl from Uzbekistan who was on her way home from school in the states, but was stopping in Istanbul because she said it was her favorite city in the world.
In customs we learned that the concept of the line is not a natural one too many people. A quite large group from Turkmenistan attempted to cut us in line multiply times and we had to employ “boxing out techniques” to maintain position. While we were pushed forward from behind by a pack of women, Will: “personal space is not a universal concept.”
Sadi, picked us up at the airport and drove us to our apartment. He got us our first real Turkish meal… Dominos Pizza!!!! Toppings included corn, sliced hotdogs, mushrooms, and peppers.
We drove into the city, traffic was crazy and the driving was crazier according to Sadi, “Driving in Turkey is like playing play station.” The drive in was breathtaking, we passed through ruined fortresses, ancient city walls, and under Roman aqueducts.
We arrived at the apartment and met the landlord. Let just say this about the apartment; we need to go outside to change our minds. In other words, it’s quite quant and yet quite nice. Our street is, for the most part, a nice family area. Some of the buildings appear to be brimming with life while others are abandoned and literally falling over. But the street itself was a constant source of activity and entertainment. There were small children playing soccer (futbol rather), dogs and cats running wild, all the while mothers shouted from balconies as they hung out the laundry. Our street is so small and the buildings are all five or six stories tall, making it feel like walking in a hallway. The buildings lean over the street and have creaky balconies that hang into the corridors that barely fit one small Turkish car.
Once the land lord, Murat, and Sadi left us in the apartment we started to have some problems. First we discover the bathroom door wouldn’t open and the key was jammed in the lock. We spent twenty minutes until we discovered you merely had to use a little elbow grease.
We unpacked a little but not fully and decided to go explore a little bit. We had a grand total of twenty New Turkish Lira (TYL). We know we needed toilet paper but we were also excited to see what we could get in this foreign land. We arrived in Takism Square in about ten minutes and then walked the unbelievable “Istiklal Caddesi” which was part Bourbon Street, part Time Square, meets Turkey. It was getting dark but instead of turning back we kept going, neither of us had ever seen that many people in one place or over such a long stretch (in retrospect maybe some of the big Mardi Gras parades, but this was a random, hot, Thursday night).
We then walked back. Bought toilet paper and headed home. We both were impressed that we were able to find our way home. The streets are such mazes, they’re incredible. There is no rhyme or reason to any of the placement.
We arrived home to no internet. Murat will get a call in the morning. We are now watching Turkish Soup Operas and making lists of stuff we need to get.
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