Day 10 – 12/16/10 – Istanbul

 

Ortakoy Area

Our last day in Istanbul was pretty cool, albeit in a very laid back kind of way.  After lounging around for a while we decided to go walking, stepped out of our hotel, and found ourselves in a little cobblestone area on the Bosphorus, blocked from vehicular traffic, with some of the most spectacular views in the world.  Look left, there’s Asia.  Look right, Europe.  Look anywhere, coffeehouses, cafes or restaurants.  Look at the Bosphorus, a bunch of old men fishing from the cobblestone boardwalk.  Words don’t do this justice, so I hope the pictures will suffice.  After wandering around a while, we headed back to the hotel to attend to TBJ’s needs and I realized that the kid’s life may be better than that of a rock star.  Think about it – he gets to poop whenever and wherever he wants and someone cleans him up and tells him he’s awesome.  Because he’s not yet on solid food, his shit literally doesn’t stink and we tell him that on a regular basis.  I mean, seriously.  Life is going to be good for the little man if he can keep this up.

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Day 9 – 12/15/10 – Skopje, Macedonia; Istanbul

This, is better than...

Ahh, Dear Reader.  I write to you from a desk in the Radisson Blu Bosphorus in lovely Istanbul, listening to a lounge station on Pandora on my iPad and drinking a beer in a state of almost complete relaxation.  Tiger Mom and TBJ have done me one better as both are currently asleep and, presumably, in some Zen state in which they can meditate upon my greatness.  I look forward to joining them, but first I must fulfill my duty to you, Dear Reader, and provide the contrast to this peaceful scene.  Simply put, today was probalby the most frustrating non-business travel day that either Tiger Mom or your Blogger have experienced.  Given the 25 or so countries that we’ve been to this decade alone, that is saying something.

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Days 5-8 – 12/11-12/14/10 – Skopje and Stip, Macedonia; Nis, Serbia

Burek - thank you http://teffsinbrasil.blogspot.com/ - no idea who you are, but you've got the best picture of burek on google images.

First thing on the morning of the 11th (well, first thing after the hour or so it takes to complete TBJ related preparations), we made our way down to the Skopje city center shopping mall to find breakfast and a few gifts.  Breakfast was one of the all-time great successes as a place that Tiger Mom knew from her youth was still around and sold some of the finest burek I’ve ever had. Burek is difficult to describe, but it is one of the best things on the planet and we were eating it in its motherland.  Gift-getting was also successful, though in the process I realized just how much I stood out.  As stereotype demands, Macedonians all wear either some sort of colorful track suit, some combination of red and yellow (the national colors) if there’s an excuse for patriotism/nationalism/jingoism, or black.  Today was a day of black, and I don’t mean just a little.  I mean black everything, preferably leather, with the possible exception of very dark blue jeans.  I’ve seen goth kids on Halloween that would have looked a little vibrant in comparison, and in my olive drab corduroys, black sweater and brown leather jacket I stood out like a peacock in a crowd of pigeons.  Of course, Tiger Mom and I were also the only ones pushing a baby stroller, so that may have been the source of the looks we were getting, and the fact that people were smiling and making silly “talking to baby” noises sort of hurt their “I’m a world weary Balkan badass who can kill you with cynicism alone” vibe, but it was a funny feeling.

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Day 4 – 12/10/10 – Istanbul / Skopje, Macedonia

Grand Bazaar

Very nice!  One thing I forgot to mention about yesterday’s excursions was a trip to Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.  By Grand Bazaar standards, this one was a little disappointing as it was very well-organized, had actual stores with walls and everything, and was sorely deficient in terms of yelling and shrieking.  In other words, it was a pretty smooth operation where fakes and knockoffs of every brand known to man could be found.  One doesn’t go to Grand Bazaars for organization and efficiency, however.  One goes for chaos, so that was a little unfortunate.  That said, the one bit of absurdity that we did find was that all of the hawkers and hucksters referred to their wares as “Very Nice!” as if Borat were both a role model and a hero.  Whenever we were approached by someone trying to sell us something we started asking if it was “Very Nice!?”, then responding in kind when we were told it was.  It was far more fun than it should be to hold entire conversations with just two words inflected as if we were British Jews pretending to be Kazakhs. 

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Day 3 – 12/9/10 – Istanbul

This Picture Captures the Vibe So Well I'm Posting It Again

Our second day in Istanbul started with a call to prayer wakins us after a solid 4 hours of sleep uninterrupted by TBJ or jetlag.  This was unusual in the extreme, and you can imagine our excitement.  I really can’t say enough about how well Hotel Ibrahim Pasha is treating us – from a Euro version of the pack-n-play waiting in our room to the spectacular free breakfast spread (assuming that you’re cool with breads, olives, cheeses, marmelaides and the like, which we most definitely are), to the view of hte Blue Mosque from our balcony, this place rocks and has treated us very well.  After luxuriating for a while and getting TBJ taken care of, we headed out to make our way to the Topkapi Palace, or the Seraglio if your tastes run toward overwrought 18th and 19th century melodrama.  We combined our walk to the palace with a scouting mission for souvenier shopping, and even before ariving at the palace had learned two things.

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Day 2 – 12/8/10 – Istanbul

Aya Sofia

Arrival in Istanbul was uneventful.  Attaturk International is a major regional hub, more efficient than most airports I’ve been to, and in less than an hour we had purchased visas, cleared customs and headed out to Hotel Ibrahim Pasha – our home for the first leg of this trip.  Now, dear reader, your Blogger has long held the view that one can tell 70-80% of what one needs to know about a city on the drive from the airport.  Based on this, Istanbul really shines – the city is surprisingly well layed out for one of its vintage, and clearly benefits from both a strong sense of civic pride and a strong sanitation department as it is clean, neat and has a very sophisticated vibe.  By the time we got to the hotel your Blogger had already decided that he liked the place, which is usually a good sign.

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Day 1 – 12/7/10 – Atlanta, GA; Istanbul

The Blogger, Junior - Obviously His Father's Son

Hello again, dear Reader! It has been some time since our last update and much has changed in the life of your Blogger. He has made a few work trips abroad to places like Korea and England which he will not chronicle here. Your Blogger and the Lady spent a very nice long weekend in Ireland which, while excellent for us, hardly merits your attention. Your Blogger and the Lady also welcomed The Blogger, Junior (“TBJ”) into the world! That’s right, dear Reader, the Blogger has spawned and where once there were two, now there are three. Being international bon vivants, your Blogger and the Lady do not intend to let our expanded numbers slow us; indeed, this is the first post about our 2010 trip to Istanbul, Macedonia and Serbia with young TBJ.

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