The textbook ingredients for an unforgettable weekend in Istanbul

Slavy, Abbie, and I took a short flight to Istanbul, Turkey last weekend for a couple days in the fifth-most populated city in the world (currently there are about 11 million people living there). It was my first time in Asia (Istanbul is separated by the Bosphorus River, where one side is Asian and one is European). Below are lists of everything we managed to see, do, and eat in less than 2 days…

To see:

The Hagia Sofia

-Since 360 A.D. this current mosque and museum served as the cathedral of Constantinople (Constantinople was the former name of Istanbul). Walking towards this structure literally gave me the chills; there are not words to describe how magnificent it is. We went inside the museum and learned all about its transition from the Constantinople cathedral to a Roman Catholic Cathedral to a mosque to a museum.

The Blue Mosque

-Situated directly across from the Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque is just as, if not more, outstanding. It is still a practicing mosque, and we were not permitted to go inside as it was prayer time for the Muslims who worship there.

Topkapi Palace

-A residence for Ottoman sultans for over 400 years, this palace is situated on the outskirts of a beautiful park on the Asian side of Istanbul.

Grand Bazaar

-Chaos reigns in this never-ending enclosed market, where shameless store-owners yell everything from “Let me help you spend your money today” to “Charlie’s Angels, will you dance with me?!” We critiqued their sales tactics, and thought about how we could incorporate them into our own sales meetings? The endless shelves of jewelry, souvenirs, pottery, antiques, scarves, spices, and paintings kept us busy for most of Saturday afternoon!

Taksim square

-This is where our hostel was located, on the European side of Istanbul. Much like Trafalgar Square in London or Times Square in NYC, this central square was always happening. When we got into Istanbul on Friday night, we walked around until 3am and it was still impossible to walk freely as the streets were PACKED with people the whole time. At any one time, the streets surrounding this square inhabit 5 million people!

Bosphorus River

-After a long day of sightseeing on Saturday, we sat at the Tea Garden on the edge of the river that runs through Istanbul. We were on the Asian side, so marveled at how amazing it was to look across to an entirely different continent. Again, the chills were back…

The Blue Mosque

To do:

Stay in a typical backpackers hostel

-The owners of this hostel were extremely nice, despite us not being able to understand one thing they said and vice versa. We noticed that Turkey is not a place where knowing English is the norm.

Ignore the men calling at you every 5 seconds

-Because there are always people filling the streets of Istanbul, and always men attempting to lure others into their shops, and hardly any women seen outside, us three women foreigners were quite the target for obscene cat-calls and uncomfortable comments. You learn to ignore them, but not once did we leave each other’s sides. It only truly became an issue when even a police car came up to us and started pestering us!

Admire the ridiculous and random displays

-The streets of Istanbul just have some weird stuff. I was constantly attentive to everything I saw around me because it was so different. We noticed a huge electronic tree in the middle of Taksim Square and asked someone why they still had a Christmas tree up. He answered, like it was the most stupid question in the world, “That’s not a Christmas tree, that’s an advertising tree!” Um, ok.

Listen to the call of prayer

-As in all Muslim countries, the call of prayer is heard throughout the day. It was amazing to hear on the Asian side coming from Europe and vice versa.

Play checkers over sheesha in one of the numerous street cafes

-Because drinking is atypical for Muslims, many pass the time smoking sheesha aka a water pipe (we call it hookah in the states). In all of the sheesha cafes there are backgammon and checkers boards, and many older men pass their days smoking their own sheesha and trying to beat out their opponents in a game of checkers. Sunday morning was rainy, so we parked in an indoor café and did this ourselves for a few hours!

Bargain for Turkish keepsakes in the Bazaar

-I loved bargaining with the seemingly sly salesmen in the Turkish bazaar. I managed to negotiate a Turkish coffee set and some Allah-inspired jewelry for quite a good price, if I do say so myself…

Dance to live Turkish music with the locals

-Saturday night was lively, to say the least. We checked out some local dance bars and clubs, and found ourselves in a bar with live Turkish music, which is surprisingly fun to dance to

Buy shots of tequila from nightlife street vendors

-Again, the nightlife is crazy for the simple reason that millions of people stay awake on the streets for all hours of the night. This means thousands of open-air bars and liquor stands where partiers bounce to and from.

The Grand Bazaar

To drink/eat:

Sahlep

-A delicious warm milk-and-cinnamon drink typically taken over a sheesha or to warm up with

Dirty Rice

-One of the bizarre street foods we tried Friday night – this rice comes from a popcorn-like stand, flavored by whole chicken breasts sitting in the rice. Sounds disgusting, and it kinda was…they also had this rice inside large mussels, but we opted we had had enough rice for the weekend

Turkish tea

-Self-explanatory!

Fresh-squeezed juices

-Numerous stands of fresh fruit just waiting to be squeezed into delicious juices. We tried pomegranate, kiwi, carrot, strawberry, grapefruit..

Krompir

-A very typical snack for the Turks, a krompir is a loaded jacket potato with corn, beans, peas, cabbage, sour cream, carrots, and tons of other toppings. We enjoyed one at the Tea Garden overlooking the Bosphorus river.

Donor Kebab

-The lamb kebab was invented in Turkey and has made its way to cheap vendors world-wide. Of course we had to get one (or two) and they were just as delicious as always.

Turkish delight

-The typical candy of the region, Turkish delight is like a large jelly bean in various flavors – everything from pistachio to rose!

Turkish coffee

-As thick as coffee can possibly get, Turkish coffee is strong and grainy, but pretty delicious, especially for caffeine-lovers

Pita bread/mixed grill platter

-On Saturday night we went to a traditional Turkish restaurant where you sit on the floor (no shoes allowed!) and eat with your hands. We ordered a mixed grill platter that came with tons of meats and sauces and breads and had a ball mixing and trying it all together.

Street-vendor chestnuts

-Especially in the winter warm chestnuts cracked open over fire are devoured by locals all over the Balkan region. We grabbed some as we walked along the main pavilion in the city center!

Traditional Turkish Restaurant

…So concludes my long grocery list that cooked up a spicy weekend in the extraordinary ISTANBUL!

From One American Hug to Three Belgian Kisses

After an indescribably wonderful trip to AMERICA, I made it safe and sound to the Media Plus offices in Lommel, Belgium, just outside of Brussels. I was greeted by my enthusiastic colleagues (all of whom I must do the whole three-kiss-on-the-cheek thing, so it takes about an hour to say ‘hello’ to everyone). Coming back into Belgium I realized just how much character the little country really has. Even though 95% of the time it is overcast and/or raining and/or snowing, it has a cuteness about it, especially in the small villages where I stay while I am in the office. On every corner there is a snack shop or “frituur” serving all sorts of unidentifiable fried meats and delicious pomme frits smothered in repulsive mayonnaise (mine on the side, danku!). I am surrounded by the Flemish language (a slightly varied version of Dutch), not to mention the Italian, French, Spanish, and Hungarian of my colleagues. I also realized I actually really do miss the uniqueness of everyone I work with – they are all so different. Sitting at the lunch table (where I munch on a weird Belgian sandwich that never fails to have egg and mayo, no matter what you order), I look around and am confused how a Ukrainian, Bulgarian, British, Togolese, Hungarian, Canadian, and American can have such normal, everyday conversations about common life habits and routines. I got into the groove of being 6 hours ahead but one hour behind the country I was calling (Bulgaria) and also adjusted to the different phone systems, road signs, and food labels.

My week in the office was therefore a somewhat rough transition back into reality, and I was confused as to how a place so different could eventually once again become so familiar that I actually considered it reality (if that makes sense?) One extreme high and then extreme low occurred when the thousands of copies of the Croatia report arrived to the office. It looks amazing and perfect and I felt so proud – until I turned to the front cover, where under the title “Business Analyst” reads a “Kristin Kemy”. That is all I am going to say about that.

After a long night of clubbing in Belgium on Friday, Abbie, Slavy, and I woke up an hour later for our flight to good old Bulgaria. (As Slavy joked the whole way, “party in Belgium, hangover in Bulgaria!”) Our first stop after checking into our hotel was to our favorite traditional Bulgarian restaurant, and I surprisingly felt somewhat at home once again (or maybe it was just me trying not to think about how much I still missed everyone at my real home).

I knew I was really back in Bulgaria after our taxi ride home from dinner tonight. Slavy was not with Abbie and I, and of course the drivers always try to take advantage of us English-speakers. A crazy-haired lady who looked identical to Cruella Devil yelled at me that I didn’t pay her enough after telling me three different prices that she made up in her head. I have learned numbers 1-10 in Bulgarian so I can catch these little swindling tricksters. HA. Back to a life that is never easy, but always, always interesting.