Here I am. Istanbul. It's very pretty. It's also very, very cold right now. And the wind just cuts you in half. I went out this evening and shot a few pictures from the Galata bridge, pretty pleased with some of them, but couldn't stay out there long for fear of death by exposure, death by slipping on the iced over sidewalk and breaking my neck, or death due to a collapsing bridge... could feel that sucker rumbling and bouncing any time a truck or a bus rolled over it. I'm afraid some of my photos suffered because of it.
I'm shacked up in an area of town called Beyoglu (Bay-Oh-Loo), evidently a very happening spot, a bit better than the sleepy area of town where all the mosques are located. Walked up the main drag, Istiklal Caddesi, bunch of little shops, restaurants, including a couple Starbucks, and bars tucked away in the alleys, for pretty close to a mile. Neat patterned stone roads all over the place; pretty old buildings, most of which have been restored or fairly well maintained. Sheets of Christmas lights dangling over the street; nice little street car chugs away slowly up and down the street. If I weren't so damn cold and tired maybe I'd have taken a bit more time to explore.
The Lonely Planet guide has few warnings about Istanbul, but does make particular note of one thing: "... avoid so-called 'friends' who approach you and offer to buy you a drink; a scam is usually involved." (Pg. 540) Well, I'm about an hour into my walk up Istiklal, when this young guy rattles off something in Turkish (another wonderful language to ingest); I try to ignore him; then asks me in English what time it is; where am I from; yadda yadda- very friendly guy, strongly recommends I join him and his buddy for a drink; does this a number of times, even drops the "we're all good friends here," bomb... maybe just a real outgoing guy, maybe it's just the good old fashioned American paranoia warming up inside my head, but I don't know these guys from Adam, I don't trust them and farther than I can throw them, and I smell a rat, so I'm not hanging out with this dude or his buddy any longer than I have to. I BS for a little while but eventually say goodbye, turn around, walk the other way. Pretty much all there is to it. Not opposed to shooting the breeze a bit with someone wherever I happen to meet them, but I don't want to wake up missing a kidney or anything. Be a real bummer- I'm already having difficulty accessing my bank account from over here, I just might need one of those things in case I run out of money... Freezed my ass all the way back to my charming little boutique hotel. Really is a nice little place. Got a great rate. And the folks here are just pleased as punch when I try to speak whatever Turkish I can glean from my Lonely Planet guide to them...
Funny little story- I stop for a bite to eat at a little spot on the ave there, the manager, looks a bit like Rodney Dangerfield, sniffs out that I'm American, bellows, "Obama, Good!" gives a big laugh and a thumbs up; then draws me in a little closer over the counter and then bellows even louder: "George Bush... HOMO!" I think I'm gonna like this town.
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