tour guides
The sea and land. Oludeniz, Turkey.
Originally uploaded by .......c.........
spent the past two days playing tour guide to my friends dustin and his wife, mastaneh. they were here for a few days prior to attending an awards ceremony in budapest for the cartoon they made last year. okan and i went to sultanahmet and met them at their hotel, then took them around, ate kebabs, explored passages for cheap goods, and walked in the rain. the grand bazaar was closed (much to their dismay) for the bayram, so we tried to substitute little stores for the bazaar. yesterday we went to ortakoy and took a boat ride up the bosphorus (which is honestly the best 5 YTL spent in istanbul, IMHO), and then ate desserts at ozsut in taksim. mmmmm. yum.
they're on their own today exploring the yerebatan sarnici (underground cistern) and doing last minute shopping.
it had been five years since i'd seen them, which is shockingly sad and i can't believe it has been that long! the last time i remember really seeing them was at their wedding in LA, which i always remember as the best wedding i've ever been to as it mixed both jewish and persian traditions. it was colorful and exciting, unlike most of the cookie-cutter white weddings i've been to over time. yawn.
anyway. it's another grey day here..... in a week i'm going to be on a turkish game show. BAHAHAHAHAH!
Fisherman and the sea
Originally uploaded by .......c.........
i'm sitting here on a rainy tuesday morning, rain is pelting my wilting geraniums and people are walking by with various colors of umbrellas. autumn is definitely here and i can feel the chill of winter coming in the air. i'm not ready for another istanbul winter!
just wishing that i was back on holiday.... okan and i went to south turkey and visited oludeniz, butterfly valley (kelebekler vadisi), kayakoy, and fethiye. it was late in the season, but still warm enough to swim in the sea and sunny enough for me to get a little tan. (note: the tan will probably fade in the next 72 hours!) everything was lovely except for one thing: the 12-island tour we took. normally, these tours are fabulous and relaxing, and ours started out this way, too. the boat takes you to little islands and secret coves where you can swim among ruins and sunbathe. it's magical. magical, that is, until a giant white squall rolls in and almost capsizes your boat while it's in the open sea! this storm rolled in incredibly fast-- almost instantaneous, which was incredible. we were on our way back to fethiye and suddenly the wind picked up, rain started pouring down, and the waves got violent and strong. the boat was rocking at a terrifying degree and i was sure we were going to capsize and end up in the mediterranean. yikes. (NOTE: the photo above is NOT of the boat we experienced this in! that's the little fisherman's boat that took us to butterfly valley)
anyway. back in istanbul. ramazan is almost over. things are going well.
my parents bought tickets and will be coming to istanbul in december! i can't believe it. i'm absolutely thrilled that they will be able to see istanbul and experience a little bit of what turkey is like. i can't wait!
finally.
The Bosphorus and the Golden Horn
Originally uploaded by .......c.........
again, sorry for the lack of posting, but things have been extraordinarily busy here (with work, with okan, with life!) so this has kind of taken a seat on the back burner. things are good though. friends came, tours were had, work has been crazy....
it's thursday morning and, as usual, i have myself seated with a cup of coffee as i write this. i have to hurry though because i must get ready for work.... weeks have blurred together into a fog of running around, going out, enjoying ramazan, enjoying life.
we are going to fethiye on saturday night (actually, hisaronu?) and i can't wait. i need a holiday. i haven't really taken one this year and i'm incredibly burned out from working 6-day weeks and taking this management job. i need to just get out of istanbul and relax. it's going to be lovely!
work = fine
life = good
boy = good
istanbul = fair
desire to get out of istanbul and go on holiday = complete and total!
