Life, Examined: The Odyssey of T.J. and Lauren: Return to Istanbul

A few days before we left Atlanta on this journey, we were sitting at the computer going over our travel insurance options. One of the riders on offer was insurance against trip cancellation/interruption due to acts of terrorism. Naively believing that none of our planned destinations would be targets for terrorism, we opted to skip this coverage. Five months later, with the world being what it is, crazy and unpredictable, we sat in our hotel room in Tel Aviv and watched the horrid events of the Mumbai terror attacks unfold. We were due to arrive in India three days later and were clearly concerned about venturing to a country rocked by terrorism. On the one hand, it was unstable, but on the other, India was the country we wanted to visit the most. A quandary indeed.

Traveling is, more than anything, an up and down affair. You go to bed with the memory of a gorgeous sunset in your head and wake up vomiting due to a stomach bug. You get robbed one day and the next you're surfing a gentle wave on a beautiful blue sky day. It sure makes you tougher, as your heart and mind become trained to handle the elasticity of each day. Such was the case with our India travel situation. Disappointed by the crimp in our plans, we nevertheless saw the silver lining. As fate would have it, our flight from Tel Aviv to Delhi had a stopover in Istanbul. This allowed us to put our India plans on hold, while spending our holding pattern in an amazing city. We contacted the airlines, who allowed us to extend our layover in Istanbul indefinitely, and headed for the airport. Yet again, we were the victim of tough flight scheduling. Our flight was due to leave Tel Aviv for Istanbul at 6:15am. Because of the tight security in Israel, they advise you to be at the airport 3 hours ahead of time. With the airport 30 minutes from our hotel, that left us with a wake-up call of 2:10am. Man, we were a mess that morning.

In the cab on the way to our same hostel, Neverland, in Istanbul, I expressed to Lauren that I was afraid that our return to Istanbul would knock down the pedestal on which I had placed the city, that it couldn't possibly be as great as I remembered. Sitting here in Delhi (yep, we headed to India after all, although I am currently recovering from a bout of Delhi belly), I can safely say that our second trip to Istanbul reinforced and even strengthened my love for the jewel of the Turkish nation: Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, formerly Byzantium.

It was a fantastic 18 days in Istanbul. We revisited old favorite haunts and discovered new ones, while dealing with the administrative details and soul searching inherent in planning for our travels after Istanbul. We spent a lot of time with our hairdresser friends, Ismail and Murat, and were introduced to their friend, Huseyin, a DJ. Unfortunately, on one of the first nights that we were back in Istanbul, Murat went out to get some kebap and was arrested by one of the ubiquitous police patrols conducting security checks. It turned out that he had failed to pay a rather considerable fine stemming from a previous arrest for fighting and was sentenced to 36 days in jail. He was missed for sure, but we also enjoyed getting to know Huseyin, whose easy laugh and excellent English made him a great pal. We will never forget Istanbul and can't wait to go back, but until then, these pictures will suffice:

Ortaköy is a cool little district on the European side of the Bosphorus, with lots of great cafés, galleries, and a Sunday flea market. Here I am in Ortaköy, with the beautiful Ortaköy Mosque in the background and the Bosphorus Bridge in the far background. The Bosphorus Bridge is one of two bridges in Istanbul that connect the European side to the Asian side.

Sunset over Istanbul, as seen from the shore of Ortaköy.

The burning sun cast such a cool glow around the numerous mosques and other landmarks in Istanbul.

After spending a great Sunday in Ortaköy, we elected to take a long stroll home along the Bosphorus. Along the way, we passed this entrance to the magnificent Dolmabahçe Palace.

One day we took a ferry from the district of Eminönü, on the European side, to the little village of Çengelköy, on the Asian side of Istanbul.

On the way, we passed a bunch of landmarks, making the ferry ride more like a really cheap (1.4YTL=$1) Bosphorus cruise. Here is the view of the Istanbul Modern, an excellent contemporary art museum that we frequented on our first trip to Istanbul.

The shorefront and ferry station at Çengelköy.

Plane trees (sycamores) can be found all over Istanbul. Tons of restaurants and cafés bear the name "Çinaralti," which means "under the plane tree" in Turkish. Here is Lauren under one of the plane trees along the Bosphorus in Çengelköy.

Lauren with a feline friend in Çengelköy.

Sun setting behind the Bosphorus Bridge.

Closer view.

Lauren blending in with the locals and keeping her ears warm in the cool air of a fall evening in Istanbul.

On our second Saturday night in Istanbul, we planned to go to a club with our friends Huseyin (left) and Izmo (right). Before we headed out, Izmo told Lauren (through Huseyin, his interpreter), that he wanted to style her hair. Here she is at the intermediate stage of her curly hair experiment.

Izmo and Lauren with her spicy new hairdo.

Right before heading out to Line, a really fun club in the hip Beyoğlu district in which we stayed. After dancing until late in the night, Izmo and Huseyin took us to a restaurant for soup. Apparently, eating soup after a big night of partying is the thing to do. In particular, the most popular late night soup is İşkembe çorbası. It tasted pretty good, but the next day we discovered that it is a soup comprised mostly of tripe, also known as sheep stomach. Yuck!!!

Lauren practicing her dance moves.

The day after our late night adventures, Lauren's hair was still curly, but in a more relaxed way.

Lauren really likes cats. That is a massive understatement. On Yeni Çarsi, the road from our hostel to the main thoroughfare of Istiklal Caddesi, there are several crazy cat ladies who maintain a small army of cats. Needless to say, Lauren was delighted by Cat Alley. Here is Lauren with Dark Phillip, a cat that looks almost the same as her cat from home, but a smidge darker.

The boys hanging out at Izmo's apartment. This is the day that I decided to grow a mustache to freak out Lauren.

The whole crew.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was the founder of the modern Turkish state and the first president of the Turkish Republic, sort of like a Turkish George Washington. Atatürk is a cult figure in Turkey and there are tons of statues and other monuments to him around Istanbul. Many of these statues do not list his date of death, so as to show that he is still "living" in Turkey. It's a little weird, but he was a pretty fascinating man, so I can dig it. Here I am with a portrait of Atatürk, which can be found in almost every home and business.

Lauren dancing at the club at which Huseyin was DJing, before the crowd showed up. As with most countries, with the conspicuous exception of America, the party in Istanbul doesn't really even get started until 12:30am. However, we hung out at the club before that time to take advantage of the free drinks.

Lauren on the turntables at Club Radio. This was during the Muslim holiday of Kurban Bayramı, which is a massive celebration in Turkey during which they sacrifice goats and cows. It was pretty crazy to see the local news, which showed sacrifices happening on the streets. The animal slaughter notwithstanding, it was a very warm and festive holiday, with everyone in cheerful spirits, probably mostly because nobody worked for an entire week.

Izmo and Lauren getting down.

Even though Turkey is a Muslim country, they still celebrate Christmas, albeit in a lesser fashion than at home. We saw this Christmas tree in the ritzy Nişantaşı quarter of Istanbul.