istanbullu

This crazy Byzantine city is so alive, it makes me yearn for something undefined.  I have been trying to fill this longing with cay (chai), baklava, and lamb sandwiches, only to make the realization a few days into this journey that I have gotten a taste of what it is to be an Istanbullu (a denizen of this fine city);  a citizen who is lucky in enough to have an appetite to match the offerings of this metropolis.  Food is only the beginning.  The beauty of the Bosphorous, the architecture, the men and women, the winding alleys, the Muezzedin's call to the faithful echoing through the cosmopolitan city streets, the juxtaposition of modern and classical, all invite the senses to lose themselves.  

The infrastructure is pretty impressive as well.  We've discovered the Akbil, Istanbul's answer to our metrocard, a plastic keychain that one can add as much money to as one wants, and use on all of the public transportation options; the buses, the tram, the metro, and the ferries.  The transportation system as a whole rivals (and in most cases, is better than, with possibly the exception of NYC) any major western city.  

Grilled mackerel sandwiches on the Galata Bridge.  Smoking nargile in an Ottoman cemetery chai garden.  The blue of the tiles in Sultan Mehmet Cammii taking me back in time.