Turkey gets its own summary?! It’s an outrage! We were only there for 2 weeks, and both other summaries (Summary #1 & #2) were each for a 6-week period. Throwing in a 2-week summary is inconsistent – it’s chaos! It’s throwing a wrench in this whole Summary System. I’m going to lose sleep over this.
Well nevermind, that’s just the anal retentive (I like to think “methodical”) side taking over for a bit, nobody’s losing sleep over this (painfully short) summary. Turkey gets its own short summary because it’s a whole different animal. (No pun intended - Or was it?) It doesn’t fit with Europe, and it definitely doesn’t fit with Australia. So it gets its own.
So here is Turkey, by the numbers:
- 1 country, 1 currency, 1 extremely difficult language
- 4 cities (Istanbul, Ephesus, Bergama, Izmir)
- 0 Thefts, pickpockets, stolen organs, moped-vs-pedestrian accidents, or carpets purchased.
- 25 doner kebabs
- 8 cups of fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice
- 2 bee stings
- 183 stray cats (+/- 50)
Observations, Opinions, & Gross generalizations:
It was really cool to walk through the streets of Istanbul, with a completely different skyline, surrounded by unfamiliar language, sights & sounds than I’ve ever heard or seen. The buildings are ancient… Sultans, palaces, harems, and yes, Turkish prisons – are all a part of the history and the landscape. There was quite a bit of “mystique” - I often felt like I was in someone else’s shoes, or on the set of some foreign movie.
Turkey is by far the most “foreign” place we have been to on these travels. Here are some examples of what I mean:
- The language is by far the most difficult that we’ve encountered. We could pretty easily learn a few key words and phrases (or more) in German, Italian, Polish, Czech, and even Hungarian. However, it took us the entire 2 weeks to learn “thank you” in Turkish (and efforts to learn other words were futile). We were still being corrected about “thank you” on our last day (incidently, it’s “teshekur ederim” – but apparently not said quite how it looks).
- The architecture & decoration is like nothing we’ve ever seen. The intricately painted colorful tiles, the intricate carpets, the intricate carvings over windows and doors… it was all new to us. And intricate. Minerets and mosques are around every corner, and dot the skyline.
- There is the Muslim call to prayer 5 times a day. We could hear it anywhere we were, indoors or outdoors, and it was coming from multiple minarets, echoing through the city. Another very different sound from what we are used to – but we got pretty used to it in a couple of days.
- Vince mentioned it in his Istanbul post – the culture around buying/selling is very different. Prices aren’t always posted, and when they are not, people are quoted very different prices, generally not favorable ones for the blonde, foreign, or female among us. And then the Haggling ensues. A rather annoying and disadvantageous process to me (I like to shop around and find the best scarf at the best price, unbothered – impossible with this system). Vince liked it, I didn’t.
- Sales people, restaurant staff, people we encountered every day – have a very aggressive way about them (see “gross generalization” in the title if you feel offended by any of these gross generalizations). My habit of window-shopping and even “general looking around” had to come to a complete end in Turkey. Sadly, I had a more comfortable experience when I just kept my eyes down and forward.
- On the other hand, people also tend to be extremely hospitable, far beyond the call of duty. Hotel staff was extremely helpful, the free breakfast (included at every hotel) was incredible – olives, feta, tomatoes, bread, cheese - Yum. One particularly generous bus driver shared his oranges with us.
All in all, I loved seeing some of Turkey, and getting a peek at the whole “East meets West” mystique. I can’t say enough about the food and architecture. I must also admit that I was way out of my comfort zone for almost the entire time we were there (outside of our hotel). I think it was the aggressive nature of the culture, and the entirely male-dominated service industry (we never saw a female working in any shop, restaurant, or bus station. Not one). To clarify, I didn’t feel that I was in danger, I just felt extremely and obviously foreign… and female. I didn’t let poor Vince leave my side for a second. I believe that Turkey was the first time in my adult life that I’ve been silent and clingy. And most of you may never see that again - unless we all go to Turkey.
That being said, I think it's good to get out of the comfort zone, and I intend travel outside my comfort zone again.
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