Istanbul (May 29, 2006) -- Should I ever write a guide book, don't buy it.
To understand why I say this, imagine something like this under the Istanbul heading:
"Step one; forget your hotel voucher at home so that you don't have the hotel address. This will mean that the airport cabbie drops you off at the Blue Mosque, tourist central in this city.
Exit the cab.
Don't forget your bag or that you have no friggin clue where you are or where your hotel is located. All right, now start walking.
A young guy, named Gokhan Akdeniz, will offer to show you the Blue Mosque.
Say no.
Then he will ask if you are from the states.
Reply that you really must be going.
Finally he will ask if you are looking for your hotel.
He's got you there.
So he will show you to your hotel where they won't have a room for you because the fax machine is broken.
But they will send you to a hotel up the street. After you drop your bag in the room, go back outside because you and Gokhan have a busy day ahead of you.
First stop is the Blue Mosque. Then it's off to lunch in the shady Russian part of town where you and Gokhan will drink Raki (pronounced Ruku and tasting like licorice). The plates are piled high with stuff that you are pretty certain is going to make you sick, but that's the fun part."
You can see what I mean.
Me and Gokhan, 32, who looks like Ralph Machio and acts like Tony Montana in 'Scarface,' hung out most of my first day in Istanbul. He's a what he calls a bad Muslim because he drinks and parties.
His uncle owns a carpet shop where the carpet that I purchased is waiting for me.
Last night I hung out with Gokhan again. His friends and his uncle made a fire on the rocky shore of the Sea of Marmara and cooked spicy chicken and drank Turkish beer. It was bizarre and fun and yet another thing that would not be recommended to the orthodox
visitor to Istanbul.
I plan on working most this week on an article for the paper about the residential real estate market. I don't feel bad about not spending all my time seeing the sights and learning the culture since the first two days were filled with more than enough of that.
By the way, the weather is great and the people are friendly.
I hope all of you are doing well.
Take care,
Brett
