Istanbul

I woke up to a gloomy day but yesterday’s rain had rolled through. The first order of business was the free hot breakfast. And to their credit, it did not include “make your own” waffles common in the US. There were eggs and meat and potatoes and sweets. I could have sat there all day, watching the ferries cross the river and eat my way back into my pants after 2 months of hard labor on a Buddhist diet.

Instead, I headed off to see what all the love for Istanbul was about. I walked to the Famous Grand Bazaar. It lived up to its name. I enjoyed the stroll through but wasn’t in the market for a carpet or new clothes or trinkets in general so I don’t think the market was so impressed with me. After a while, the stalls started to run together and it was all pretty much the same. Next up, I walked to the Famous Blue Mosque. Also in the general vicinity.

Usually, Non-Muslims aren’t allowed into Mosques so I was eager to go in and take a look around. Upon arrival, I found the mosque in full remodel/repair mode so the outside was covered in scaffolding. And not all that Blue at the moment. A little disappointing but not to be dissuaded, I bought an entry ticket, took of my shoes and went in. It was just a big room with a few alcoves. It too was getting remodeled so all the intricate tile designs were covered. Oh well. Through the magic of google images I can revisit anytime.

The Instanbul Metro Museum is next door and supposedly pretty good. Museums are rarely on my list though. I was happy to stroll around the neighborhood. I stopped in for a McDonalds Coffee for a little pick me up. Operative word being little. I suppose it is a sign of sophistication but their coffee is a useless espresso shot. I drink coffee to take a rest and kill some time. These little coffee shots use up all of 12 seconds. I strolled around the neighborhood until I found a proper coffeeshop with proper sized coffees. But that was also a short stay cause no free refills and coffee isn’t cheap here. Probably just as well, I haven’t seen many public restrooms.

I walked some more around the neighborhood and finally started to figure this section of Istanbul. I decided to head over the bridge to another Tourist section. It is a long wide pedestrian street, lined with retail shops. the side alleys have the bars and restaurants.

I am not a big shopper but it is some fine people watching. Just people walking around, pushing strollers carrying packages, couples holdings hands. Pretty typical stuff for the shopping district in any big city. The one thing that did catch my eye was a guy with a mostly bandage head, the part head skin showing looked like someone took and egg beater too it. red, black and blue and leaking yellow stuff onto the white bandage. It was really gross. Then I saw another guy, same thing. And another and another. I tried to figure out what was going on so I didn’t end up the same way.  It turns out that Istanbul is THE place for hair transplant tourism. Supposedly pretty cheap. I guess if I cared enough to have it done, I would want to disappear for the recovery time too. It looks painful though.

With that image burned into my brain, I decided it was high time to head back to the hotel for a rest and figure out what was on tap for the evening.

Istanbul: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bb3YMcc7fZCemu9f6