I'm home from my whirl-wind weekend in Istanbul, and I loved every minute of it. We visited many of the usual places of interest from The Topkapi Palace, to The Blue Mosque, to The Basilica Cistern (underground water way)to the bazaar, spice market, street markets, ceramics shops, street restaurants, the boutique hotels, the water etc etc. The whole trip was just fabulous and I can't wait to return and explore more of Istanbul and further afield in Turkey. The people were wonderful, especially the chaps in a small spice shop in the spice bazaar. I had such a fun time talking with them / being entertained by their humor and business prowess while drinking apple tea and sampling Turkish delight.
One of the biggest surprises for me was how Emiratised I have become in the 10 months I have lived here in the UAE. I was pleasantly surprised to see green: trees, grass, water and a relatively green clean environment. However the biggest effect was initially being agog at the people, buildings and tourists and being back in the Western world. I live in an expat community here in the UAE and there are lots of Western people around in the malls and on the streets. My existence is coloured and influenced by Middle Eastern people, customs and culture. I have been immersed in this culture and suddenly I fly to a new country that is representative of the country and culture I have lived in all my life. I spend half a day saying and thinking wow, Westerners, and looking / waiting for the Islamic influence to appear. For 10 months it has been in my life, or in the background of my life and then suddenly everything was so different.
2 comments:
You certainly add flavour to your Turkish delight. Many who travel there agree with your impressions and indeed wider exploration would seem to be on your menu.
Green with envy. That's a place I would enjoy seeing.
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