24 Hours in Istanbul with Pete

I had the opportunity to visit the city where east meets west, the former city of Constantinople. Remember 8th grade geography? The Mediterranean meets the Black Sea through the Bosphorus canal. This is one hugely populated city - about 13 million - it's the fifth largest city in the world.

I was only there a short time but from my experience, the traffic is always like this. Traffic jams are constant and it's not the place for a newcomer to drive. Checkout the center lane that buses use. They run opposite to traffic because the bus doors open on the right and the stations are in the center...oops. And, the first buses bought by the government were underpowered so when the bus went uphill, the passengers needed to all get out and help push! 2x oops.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me the night we walked into the main market shopping area. A colleague and me were escorted by our partners in Turkey. Throngs of people moved down the pedestrian-only street - even worse than Times Square. There was a loud demonstration. Our host said it was the result of a government-backed company who privatized and many lost jobs.

There are mosques everywhere here where Islam is the main religion. We ate at a restaurant founded in 1888 that serves traditional Ottoman-era dishes. We picked out our food almost like in a delicatessen and got an assortment of foods on one plate. There was a fabulous minced meat tucked inside an eggplant (Karniyarik). They also served fresh pomegranate juice - described to me as the fountain of youth. (my host told me my wife wouldn't recognize me when I returned home - hmmm).


The city has steep hills like San Francisco and like many East European cities, the architecture is a mix of ancient and modern - often right next to each other. With only a short visit, I barely had time to take in the sights so I hope my next trip will be longer. Not sure how to say goodbye in Turkish.... so, bye for now.