Istanbul on 9/11/13
Walking around at 10 pm in Istanbul, someone asked, "What are you doing here on 9/11?" We said, "Spreading good will and showing that we (normal Americans) trust that all people are good."
We got here around 5 pm. The flight was long and United plane was old. I was looking forward to the Bollywood /Hollywood movies marathon but they did not even have individual tvs. Other than that, I can not wait for new aviation technology to get us from one corner of the earth to another in some reasonable time.
Frankfurt airport is nice on the American and western side of the flights. It gets worse as one travels from one wing to other and by the time you are at the wing where the flights to Asia take off and land, it is remarkably run down, and cheap in general. Even the plane was old (A321) with very cheap aluminum inside, vinyl seats and no TV screen what so ever and no gate... we had to bus to the plane.
In contrast, the Istanbul airport is shining, clean, modern, and big. There were masses of humanity but the passport and visa was very efficient, 27 counters open and people were running through the lines… a very pleasant experience.
At first glance, the city reminds me of San Francisco. Maybe prettier if that is possible. The road goes along the ocean and is lined with grassy side areas with white and red Begonia designs and writings and is intermixed with bright yellow and orange Marygolds. It is beautiful... the European section. We are staying in the Asian section which has impossibly narrow alleys that the bus has to negotiate. Lot of these roads are cobble stone , lined up by small shops selling everything you can think of and Mosques everywhere.
We are staying around the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia area. We will talk about them tomorrow. Today we just walked around, had dinner and walked some more. Pam and Beth were too concerned about walking after dark so Jagdish and I went out ourselves and that’s where we saw locals enjoying themselves. Food vendors were out and so were women and kids and few tourists. There were Korean performers , toy vendors, and families just hanging out. It seems like in hot climates, people come out after dark and enjoy themselves. We are back because we feel we need to sleep but the party is still going on.
Good night and there will be lot more to share tomorrow…
Walking around at 10 pm in Istanbul, someone asked, "What are you doing here on 9/11?" We said, "Spreading good will and showing that we (normal Americans) trust that all people are good."
We got here around 5 pm. The flight was long and United plane was old. I was looking forward to the Bollywood /Hollywood movies marathon but they did not even have individual tvs. Other than that, I can not wait for new aviation technology to get us from one corner of the earth to another in some reasonable time.
Frankfurt airport is nice on the American and western side of the flights. It gets worse as one travels from one wing to other and by the time you are at the wing where the flights to Asia take off and land, it is remarkably run down, and cheap in general. Even the plane was old (A321) with very cheap aluminum inside, vinyl seats and no TV screen what so ever and no gate... we had to bus to the plane.
In contrast, the Istanbul airport is shining, clean, modern, and big. There were masses of humanity but the passport and visa was very efficient, 27 counters open and people were running through the lines… a very pleasant experience.
At first glance, the city reminds me of San Francisco. Maybe prettier if that is possible. The road goes along the ocean and is lined with grassy side areas with white and red Begonia designs and writings and is intermixed with bright yellow and orange Marygolds. It is beautiful... the European section. We are staying in the Asian section which has impossibly narrow alleys that the bus has to negotiate. Lot of these roads are cobble stone , lined up by small shops selling everything you can think of and Mosques everywhere.
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| View from our hotel. Blue Mosque is in the background. All streets are cobble stone and lots of places to eat and hangout. Big Korean Tai Chi performance is going on. Did not realize Turkey has close relationship with South Korea. |
We are staying around the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia area. We will talk about them tomorrow. Today we just walked around, had dinner and walked some more. Pam and Beth were too concerned about walking after dark so Jagdish and I went out ourselves and that’s where we saw locals enjoying themselves. Food vendors were out and so were women and kids and few tourists. There were Korean performers , toy vendors, and families just hanging out. It seems like in hot climates, people come out after dark and enjoy themselves. We are back because we feel we need to sleep but the party is still going on.
Good night and there will be lot more to share tomorrow…
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| Fountains and view of Hagia Sofia , walking distance from our hotel |
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| A Pomegranate vendor. There are so many of them, making fresh juice, so tempting but I am not going to taste it. There are also roasted corns ( just like India) and other yummy stuff. Most of it comes out after Sundown |
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| Night view |
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