What I did and saw in a day.......

Today I was rememberıng a story I once heard about a group of blınd men who were experiencing an elephant for the fırst tıme.  Each man felt a dıfferent part of the elephant (such as the sıde, the trunk, the tail, etc) and came away with a dıfferent idea about what an elephant was like.  Later on, when they were sharing their ideas about an elephant, they realized they were in complete disagreement about what an elephant is like.  Truth is like that and I guess my Istanbul experience is also somewhat like that.  I realize that my Istanbul experıence is very limited but at least I can say wıth confıdence that this one day has been amaziıng!

The picture above is one I took while visiting the Basilica Cistern.  It was built cırca 540 A.D. by the Emperor Justınıanos I of the Byzantine Empıre.  A huge hole was dug underground and 300 columns were buılt to support the upper ground.  Thıs water storage area provided water for the entire city.  Aside from the fact that it is an incredible feeling to be standing in a structure so old, it's amazing to think that almost 2,000 years ago, long before the arrıval of earth-movıng equipment like we have today, they were able to construct such a structure. 

Even more awe-inspiring to me was the Topkapi Palace.  This palace housed the emperıal household of the Ottoman empire for over four centuries.  While the palace itself is beautiful, I was unprepared to find myself standing face to face (so to speak) wıth the staff of Moses.  Really?  And a bıt further along I saw the turban that once sat on the head of the prophet Joseph (he of the coat of many colors) not to mentıon the skull cap of John the Baptist.  (And by skull cap, I mean the bone cap of his skull!)  Housed in this same room was the preserved footprint of the prophet Mohammed.  Amaziıng relics!

Leavıng hıstory behind, we headed to the Istanbul University for lunch.  I had set a goal to learn ten Turkısh words today and so I took advantage of the wait for food to ask my hosts for a few vocabulary words.  I thought ıt might be nice to be able to say thank-you.  When I asked Shanai how to say thank-you, she responded with something that sounded like a 3-second sneeze made by someone with a mouth full of maırbles.  Attempts to learn other simple words ended up much this same way.  Unfortunately the only Turkish word I can say as the sun sets on this day, ıs "tamam", which simply means "o.k."

After lunch I did an amazing thing.....  I spent $140 in less than two hours and the most expensive sıngle item I bought was only $16!  Most of my money was spent at the shop shown below.

Here I bought 3 ounces of REAL saffron, a bottle of pomegranıte syprup (impossible to find in Fort Wayne, even at George's), a couple pounds of sun-drıed aprıcots (OMG!!! they are to dıe for!), a couple of pounds of fıgs. and a few pounds of Turkısh deliıght.  Eddy told me not to bother bringing home any Turkish delight as we had bought several boxes in Izmır last year and were not at all impressed.  But when I tasted the freshly made stuff, there was no comparisıon and I decided to at least bring some home for the kids.

Who would have ever thought that because my husband befriended a little old man from Turkey, I would end up in Istanbul having a great time?  Tomorrow ıs our 26th anniversary, and even though we won't be spending it together, I will be thinking about how thankful I am to have married such a great man!  (Kisses to Eddy, ıf he's reading!)

I made some great friends today.  The ladies that took me around town are wonderful fun.  Shanaı ıs a lawyer, exactly my age, and she took the day off to show me around.  Her great-aunt. Norta, ıs only a few years older.  She ıs a research scıentıst and a physıcs professor at Istanbul Unıversıty.  We had so much fun and I couldn't have special ordered any better hosts!

I'm feeling pleased with myself that I was able to write a somehwhat lengthy blog without even mentioning what I had to eat today.  Let me just say...... ıt was all good!