Mission Istanbul

The Famous Sultanahmet Masjid or the Blue Mosque


Iskender Kebap (Iskender is turkish/arabic for Alexander. Alexandria in Egypt is referred to as Iskandria by locals)


Istanbul skyline from the Sea of Marmara


Inside the Hagia Sophia Museum


Fish Restaurant


Church in Princes Island


Bridge connecting the European & Asian sides of Istanbul

This Eid-Al-Adha saw us in Istanbul. It was a much awaited trip. But one that started with a mis-adventure of sorts. We lost our luggage in transit in Cairo. Here are some pics of the trip. There were a lot of interesting experiences during this trip.
To share a few, the first is the Turkish language,
Meshur is Turkish for famous, Meshgul is Turkish for busy, Kebap for kabab, kofte for kofte of course, sipahi for foot soldiers. The similarity with Urdu is probably because both of them have their roots in Persian.
Turks are a fish loving race for sure, if the number of people with fishing rods at the Galata Bridge is any thing to go by. Not an inch of space is available which is not occupied by these anglers and their paraphernalia. It’s also very difficult to say if there are more restaurants selling ‘Kebap’ or fish in Istanbul.
Princess Island was probably the best thing that we saw on the trip. It gets its name from the royalty who were exiled there after the fall of the Sultanate. The first few minutes spent there would make one wonder how Eden must look like. Surrounded by sea on all sides, with green moors & meadows interspersed with grazing horses, lets out the secret as to why the who’s who of Istanbul choose these islands as their destination for the summer retreats. The villas, most of which bear the trademark of Roman & Byzantine architecture, makes one feel wistful to own one. The other remarkable thing is the pollution free environs. Barring the vehicles of the governmental services (ambulance, fire engine et al), the only other modes of transportation are horse drawn carriages, bicycles and electric scooties. Each breath of the pure inhaled air must be detoxifying a million polluted body cells. One wonders if the authorities could somehow ban people from smoking on these islands (at least- if not the whole of ‘smoking’ nation). That would be the real icing on the cake.
Another incident which I just absolutely, have to share, happened on our last evening there. My husband, tired of the meat and fish regimen, longed for some authentic veggie fare. We went around looking for a famous Indian restaurant called ‘Dubb’ that we discovered on the net. Passing by many Turkish restaurants & after lots of looking around, we were still out of luck. Finally, we decided to ask the directions from a Turkish waiter who was yelling his lungs out trying to draw customers to his restaurant. First he rubbed his brows. Then he started scratching his head as if trying to remember something. We were thoroughly confused at his antics. All this while we were watching him bewildered. When we exchanged questioning looks, he finally delivers his punch. ‘You come to Istanbul and you still want Indian food’. We broke into unstoppable laughter and we still laugh every time we think about him. Anyway he was a real sport & gave us perfect directions to the Indian restaurant. That’s Turkish hospitality for you.
And yes, our luggage arrived the third day, delivered by the airport authorities to our hotel.