It is 2:09 am (what’s up with my 2am postings?) and I am laying on the couch in my cousin’s apartment in the middle of Istanbul. I’m traveling on this leg of the trip with my Mom and step-dad whom I met up with yesterday in Barcelona to spend the night before our flight this morning.
So far my time in Istanbul has been interesting and fulfilling, both emotionally and physically. This city is unlike Platja d’Aro in many ways, but there are elements that are strikingly similar. People out, bustling around, the energy of a city buzzing with sights, sounds, and motion. I love that about this place, and about where I have been in Spain as well. You can wander and feel alone but a part of something at the same time. This is something I have come to appreciate while spending time by myself, the ability to exist alongside someone else and share in an experience without actually having to interact.
I am spending the next four days in my cousin’s apartment which is incredibly comfortable and stylish and makes me want a place just like it. My mom and stepdad are sleeping at my cousin’s boyfriend’s place, walking distance away. Although it should be noted that walking distance here appears to always involve a hill of some sort. My butt has gotten quite the workout in the past three weeks.
Tonight for dinner my cousin made reservations at a kebab (literally, meat) restaurant that is popular with both locals and tourists. The area where we were seated was on the top floor of a building with floor to ceiling windows lining the dining area for full views of the Bosphorous and various mosques and other sites of importance that I will learn about. We ate our fill of appetizers (many including walnuts and pistachios in different forms) and then were presented with a huge plate of kebab pieces of lamb and chicken. My favorite had to be the lamb one with pistachios mixed in. It gave it such a yummy texture and flavor. This followed by a dessert of layers of thin filo-like dough filled with cream and pistachios and covered with sweet syrup and more pistachios, was incredible. And to think my grandmother used to say pistachios were only for, “little rich girls.” They are also for Turks of all economic classes and American tourists who happen to be slowly running out of money. Pistachios – the nut of the people.
Don’t you love the late-nite vibes??? It’s the best. Haven’t been to Istanbul but the other places we have been in Europe and Asia where the night begins about midnight were incredible, and I think they could even keep THIS oldster up a bit longer than normal. We are currently outside Washington, DC….spent the day in the National Archives and the Smithsonian….we gotta get you back here for a month next year; what do YOU think? xxoo
You’re making me jealous! hehe. So glad you’re getting a chance to visit Genee and see Istanbul. You’re writing is great — I totally agree with the greatness of wandering alone, but feeling a part of something.
And I agree with your Dad that you all need to come to DC for a month!