First Touring Day in Istanbul
We started our first full day in Istanbul moving from one apartment to another. It was a very interesting experience for me, knowing that the place we were staying wasn’t right for us but also knowing that the experience we were going through was exactly what was supposed to happen. No reason to get upset or frustrated, just enjoy meeting all the nice people, getting a tour of lots of different apartments and finally finding the one that was right for us. This is all part of life, whether we are traveling in Istanbul or we are in San Diego. Sometimes there are bumps and we need to go with the flow, something good usually comes at the end.
Once we got settled in the new apartment Ilise and I left the kids to do their work while we roamed the city. We started by walking through Taksim Park and heading toward to water. We walked down a huge hill, which made me realize that what goes down much come back up, but we dealt with that later. We found ourselves passing a huge stadium that was under construction and landed by the water at the Saat Kule Palace. The Palace was closed and the officer out front made sure we knew that.
We started to walk along to water front for about 2 -3 miles, passing numerous ferries and tour boats and lots of street vendors. We bought some corn, some small sesame covered breads and enjoyed our walk. We ended up passing a few shops, one that Ilise bought a shirt in, as well as passing a huge flight of steps heading up the hill all painted in different colors. That was an awesome picture!
Eventually we found ourselves at a huge bridge that took us across the river to Eminonu, the other European portion of the city. Eminonu’s skyline was filled with so many Mosques it made an interesting picture. It was starting to get a bit late so we decided to head back to the new apartment and see what the kids were up to.
We returned to find them finishing up their work. Drew was finishing an exam that I was able to help her with and Noah had been working on a PowerPoint presentation that the kids were going to give at the school we were visiting the next day. That visit is a whole other story!
We ended the day with dinner at a local restaurant that was recommended by our landlord, Merve. The family that owns the apartment that we live in is so nice. They own the little shop across the street from the building and the father seems to be the big brother to everyone in the neighborhood. He doesn’t speak any English, but you can see how proud of a man he is. I’m glad we are here and enjoying ourselves.
To a life well lived!
Larry Kesslin 