Merhaba (Hello) from Turkey…

Our first few days in Istanbul have been rather challenging. Checked in the Grand Hyatt located in the Beyoğlu area of the Modern side of Turkey (still 600 years old, and the next morning we went for breakfast and a little sightseeing. Even though it was chilly outside and rained some the first day, we were able to enjoy drinks overlooking the Bosphorus Straight and then go to the Grand Bazaar, and do a little shopping. As we were returning to the hotel in the Uber, the worry began….Rick started acting very, very strange…and by the time he exited the car, he could barely walk and his speech was slurred. After getting him to his room, and observing him get worse, Allison finally called the hotel doctor and they put him in a taxi and rushed him to the hospital nearby. Obviously, everyone was very upset and concerned, but after many, many tests… the bottom line was his blood sugar had dropped to 24…which is extremely dangerous. They kept him overnight and ran every test in the world for very little money compared to the US …and finally determined there was nothing really wrong and was possibly just dehydration. He had been in India for three weeks and traveling extensively. The good news is he seemed A-OK and was ready to go again as of yesterday evening. That first night Connie, Lori and I went to an amazing restaurant and tried all the typical Turkish delicacies. You could order any kind of kebab with every kind of dressing imaginable ….the fried egg plant was amazing and our sliced sirloin was so tender you barely had to chew it.

Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus Strait which separates Europe and Asia. So the next day (while Rick and Allison stayed at the hospital for more tests), we took the ferry to a couple of the “Princes’ Islands” on the Asian side of the Straight.

Back in the Ottoman days, each day, the Sultan’s mother would pick one of the many harem girls
for the Sultan to sleep with for that night. As a result, the Sultans fathered many children!
The next in line to the throne was the Sultan’s first-born son with his wife.
All the other sons from the harem women fathered by the Sultan were exiled to the Princes’ Islands once they were of age to prevent a possible killing of the true heir to the throne.

The first island, doesn’t allow cars in the city center, and the cobblestone streets and alleys are full of tiny shops and a great market. My favorite thing about these small towns is the open air markets where folks get their daily meat, veggie, breads, etc. Here’s where we saw all their typical foods (and even got to taste a few things). There were olives in EVERY color, large fresh vegetables and fruits, spices galore, fresh fish of all varieties, and lots of stands dedicated to donor kebabs (gyros) which are large spindles of meat…usually lamb …and they shave off very thin slices to put in a thin round bread similar to a tortilla. They are big on different sauces and absolutely love eggplant…even large bundles of dried eggplant hang from the stalls. One of the delicacies since they are located on the seaside are mussels. Tasty!😋 There was also a stall with lamb intestines 😩 but no one was brave enough to taste those.

There are CATS everywhere! Cats are considered sacred here like cows are in India…the difference being they are well groomed and healthy…vs cows in India are bones and unhealthy looking.

The next island, Heybeliada is the second largest of the Princes’ Islands. The lunch there was mostly fresh seafood…calamari and shrimp cooked in several sauces. The main attraction on this small island was the ancient houses built in the 1800s.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to visit Taksim Square due to the protests going on. The president of Turkey had the mayor of Istanbul arrested on charges of corruption and aiding terrorist groups, days before he was due to be announced as a candidate for the 2028 presidential election. There’s a huge outcry by the people with lots of policemen and lots of streets blocked off around the square just a few blocks from our hotel. Maybe if things settle down when we come back at the end of our trip, we will be able to go to this famous Square.

Off to Cappadocia tomorrow…