“The memory is indeed among the most fallible of things humans build their identities upon. But fortifying are the constructs are shared by those who recall them together.” – Old Sean
Back Abouts
February has quickly morphed into a month of rapid transit through my current region of the world. After an extended weekend in Dubai, a slight paperwork responsibility brought me back to Istanbul.
To be frank, Istanbul is one of my favorite cities in the world. From a historical perspective, it is the event-infused seat of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire. It’s influence on global history can’t be overstated.
Furthermore, Istanbul is just inherently interesting. As a confluence of Middle Eastern, European and Asian Steppe culture, there’s always a lot going on. Food has a spotlight, cultural events are prominent, election cycles are hectic, tourism sites are venerated and there are shows and events taking stage every evening.
In short, Istanbul is among the most exciting places for me personally. It’s also the original international starting point for my travel lifestyle, as I landed there to blunder my way through Europe back in 2013.
So onward goes the tale. And now I’ve circled back once more.
Trip Tracks
I left Riyadh in the wee hours of the morning, snoozing on a plane until I landed with some grogginess on Istanbul’s Asian side. From there, I sputtered around the airport while awaiting one of my oldest and most stalwart friends.
Mr. World is my Turkish roommate from my time in University. He was a solid acquaintance during my time in the dorms, a fully-functional, reliable ally during our stint living on a shoestring budget in Dallas, a full-fledged champion of friendship by the time we started renting a university apartment together and a lifelong friend during my first forays vagabonding.
In truth, Mr. World is substantially better of a person than I am. The amount of hijinks and shenanigans I dragged him into during college are wisely left unmentioned in polite company. But those events tested the depths of Mr. World’s character and found him far beyond equal to the circumstances.
So I can say with utter honesty that I was thrilled to be meeting up with Mr. World again once I landed in Turkey. He picked me up from the airport and drove me to his company’s office, where both of us hammered away at stacks of professional paperwork for the day.
Muddled Mind
While the majority of my first day was spent in Istanbul doing necessary paperwork, Mr. World agreed to take me on a little tour outside the city center once work was done. We coordinated our ending times and finished work around the same hour. From there, we swung by Mr. World’s house, dropped off my single shoulder bag worth of luggage, and drove towards the mountains.
Slightly to the north of Karliktepe Neighborhood, there is a sprawling pinewood forest known as Aydos Ormani.
Even though Mr. World isn’t a dedicated fan of hiking, I certainly am. And considering my heap of time spent in dramatic deserts, my soul hungered for quiet woods and towering trees. For the rest of our daylit hours, Mr. World and I hiked through the woodlands, eventually culminating our twisting, mud speckled hike at Aydos Ormanı Gölü, a lake on the north side of the woods. After half an hour of spotting waterbirds, tagged dogs and seagulls, we found the car and rolled back home.
It wasn’t long before we picked up Mr. World’s girlfriend Ellie, and our collective group trundled downtown for Turkish self-grill dinner.
Say whatever you want about Istanbul, they know how to lay out a feast. Cheesy mushrooms, crisp tomatoes, charred peppers, grilled lamb, seared slabs of steak, shimmering, foam topped beers, lightly toasted breads and stacks of specialized tomato-bean chilled salads were all devoured. And devoured. And devoured.
To be frank, there was more food than the three of us could reasonably hope to finish. But that didn’t stop us from making a sizable impact.
Hunger sated, we drove back home to immediately fall asleep.
Caterwauling
The following morning, I woke up well before my contemporaries. I was still on my normal workout schedule, which meant my eyes fluttered open at 6 AM despite a lack of an alarm. I cracked open a window in my guest room, walked over to the shower and ultimately began a slow morning wakeup routine.
Now, I should mention that Mr. World’s mansion is cat friendly. Very cat friendly. A veritable hoard of well groomed felines hangs outside on cat toys, patio spaces and sheltered warm nooks. However, due to the inherit smell that large numbers of cats bring into the house, the felines are usually asked to stay outside.
But when I returned to my room, I found a large, exceptionally fat grey cat hanging out next to my cracked window. I didn’t see how he possibly could’ve fit through, but the liquid nature of cats made me think I had fumbled. I sighed and closed my window, as three far skinnier cats were already sniffing around.
I quietly picked up the big fellow who snuggled like a bean bag in my arm. I took him upstairs and gently let him out into the garage.
Turns out, this was a mistake. The cat belonged to Ellie and he was very much an indoor cat. He simply froze outside near the door, haughtily ignoring all other felines. When I asked Mr. World about that fat cat, he quickly enlightened me to my mistake and I rushed out to restore the furball to his rightful kingdom.
Whoops.
Fortunately, this grey cat is a judicious and fair fellow. He deigned to allow a few pets, several treats and numerous apologies. So I’m certain I’ve been at least partially forgiven.
Embarrassing mistake reverted, I joined Mr. World at work for a second day, hammering away on my keyboard with coffee at my elbow.
Operationally Zen
My last time in Istanbul, during the previous November, was an ambitious city-wide loop of various tourism sites. However, I’ve done enough in Istanbul to slow my pace somewhat.
So when my friend Nancy suggested dinner on the European side, I was happy for the breather. I left Mr. World to his work and took the metro across the city, eventually arriving at Şişhane Neighborhood. Oddly enough, I was stopped at the Metro station by a police officer who spent nearly ten minutes thumbing through my passport. But I was eventually released to continue my shuffling.
I arrived early, earning myself a fair chunk of relaxing wander time. I found a quiet little coffee place that was cluttered and peaceful, where afternoon light fell on wooded tables with golden glows. A quiet dog with longing, sad eyes sat near me for the duration of my coffee break, granting me a half hour of proper admiration through petting.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad way to wait. I eventually finished up my toasted cheese bread, closed my book, and meandered off again.
Time Whittler
Eventually, Nancy arrived from the metro station and we walked around for a few minutes, eventually settling for coffees at a French cafe called Noir Pit Cafe. By necessity, we caught up on the past couple of months and ranged through a fair mess of topics, including travels, projects, classes and other tangents. By the time our drinks were finished, suppertime hunger was upon us, so we started walking again.
Istanbul is wonderful to walk through, but inherently challenging to navigate. There are a lot of narrow roads, sidewalks without enough space and daring drivers. The snaking nature of single lane streets turns clear routes into little exercises of walking punctured by hopscotch.
It also means there are fascination accidental destinations on every corner. I fell in love with a stairway to heaven bookshop crammed with stylish bindings and an upstairs lounge area, also known as Minoa Pera. And, of course, the Pera Palace Hotel is a vision of loveliness enhanced by its illustrious history of famed guests over the centuries.
But we eventually made it to our accidentally-selected but excellent dinner restaurant, Çok Çok Pera Contemporary Thai.
While this restaurant is beyond perfect, especially where their coconut curry is concerned. However, while dining, I confess to a certain amount of trepidation. The restaurant is upscale, clean, stunningly decorated, well-staffed and delicious. But we were seated right next to a wine rack and my paranoia took careful control over my right elbow, lest I nudge the glass and liquid tower.
Thankfully, I managed to avoid overly embarrassing myself in front of Nancy. The meal was lovely, the company was better and my happiness was boundless.
Sunset Skipping
After our meal, I requested a walk to find a sunset observation point. Istanbul is home to delightful, vividly orange sunsets, often enhanced by a filter of thin clouds.
Nancy obliged me, and we spent the next hour trying more winding streets, eventually sweating ourself at Şışhane Park.
We spent the remainder of daylight watching the sky grow vivid while hawkers tried to sell bootleg wares. The nearby buildings were splendid, made only better as Istanbul’s lights began to flicker on.
Twilight Lens
Following our little viewing platform chat, Nancy and I scooted down the river, sighting fishermen, scooters, walking trails and wandering cats. We photographed the far shore, kicked around the boardwalk area, dodged a couple of motorcycles, traded stories about Naples and eventually called it a night.
Nancy said farewell and hopped on a metro going north while I went very south, then east. Mr. World eventually picked me up, and we spent the rest of the evening recalling outrageous college stories, much to Ellie’s amusement. Once the memories began pattering out, another Turkish night ended.
Snail Pace Awake
The following morning, Mr. World , Ellie and I woke up to gather around the breakfast table, feasting of paninis and coffee. Ellie showed me the massive snail she cared for with its stunning shell and slick membrane.
This might sound odd, but I love snails. I think they’re fantastic little critters and their stalks are especially cute. Nobody has to agree with me, but I enjoy them and their bobbing little faces immensely.
With breakfast finished, Mr. World, Ellie and I piled into the car. It was time to begin the Istanbul national pastime of traffic endurance.
Scootching Grand
There are many endearing features of Istanbul. Its highly contested traffic lines are not one of them. My little group inched down major highways, gradually curving over to the European side of the city.
Once there, we arrived in the highly restored neighborhood of Arnavutköy. The location is a Olympian challenge in finding a parking space, but once we di, the area is stellar for walking. We tromped over steep, cobbled hills, taking photo after photos of the narrow, balconies buildings.
I found deep pleasure in visiting Arnavutköy. It’s a wonderful little zone with an endless number of cafes, niche shops and generational restaurants. We ended up stopping for a feast of Turkish meatballs at a place called Köfteci Alibaba Traditional Meatball Stand. I also grabbed an excellent coffee at La Pierre Patisserie.
Once sated, we also went on an oceanside hike.
Something rarely mentioned about Istanbul is the jellyfish. The seas of Istanbul, along with the Bosphorus, is absolutely crammed with ghostly, pulsing jellyfish. They generally make swimming in the sea quite a challenge, unless you’re in one of the netted swimming areas off of the Prince’s Islands.
Looking down into the waters, we spotted legions of drifting jellyfish, all piked atop one another as far as the eye could see.
Needless to say, hopping in for a swim could kindly be called unwise.
Cheat & Play Day
For the remainder of the day, Mr. World, Ellie and myself wandered along Istanbul’s coast. We pointed out odd sights and aggressive billboards, but generally we just stretched our legs and exchanged numerous YouTube ads.
Finally, we settled down for a dessert at a place called Hide Arnavutkoy Cafe. The seats were uncomfortable but the pumpkin touched creme brulee went a long way towards a positive opinion. By the time we left, I was pleasantly sleepy with the combined lethargy of long walks, bug meals and satisfying desserts.
With that, my time in Istanbul was functionally over. Mr. World and Ellie began the long drive back to the airport with me, dropping me off with manly hugs and promised of snail photos.
Two hours and a milkshake later, I hopped onto a plane bound for Riyadh. The flight was stuffy and obnoxiously warm, so I ended up hammering this article out on my phone rather than sleeping.
But such is the play of the day. Tomorrow I work and possibly whine. What more can be said?
It was a nice, soul restoring weekend.
So until the next trip, which I am undertaking with casually increasing frequency,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written February 12th 2024
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