ISTANBUL – AGAIN

DECEMBER 7-10, 2024

DECEMBER 7-10, 2024

We got back to Istanbul by bus. From the bus station we thought we had negotiated a price from the taxi to take us to our guesthouse. I kept telling him I wanted the meter. He kept insisting that the meter would be more than he was charging. Bullshit! When he finally got us close to our guesthouse (2 blocks away) I told him I would pay him the price we had agreed to and no more. But suddenly he wanted more. He tried to BS me by saying it took longer, it was further, blah, blah blah. I showed him the picture I took of his meter when we started. He was still yelling at me and being an absolute ass. Where he dropped us off was at a T intersection of two one way streets. Our arguing was blocking traffic. Pierre finally said just to pay him and let others move. I am still pissed at another crooked taxi driver.

Pierre went off to find our Airbnb while I guarded the bags. A gentleman came out of a hotel across the street and began talking with me. He was the owner of that hotel, but he hated Istanbul. He was eager to get back to the USA. He kind of flirted with me and admonished Pierre for leaving a beautiful woman all alone on the street. It was all in good fun and we left laughing.

The Airbnb had the narrowest steps I have ever seen in a guesthouse setting. We wound our way up to the third floor and were greeted with the cutest little apartment. And the view was incredible.

When we got up the next morning it occurred to me that our El Salvador friend, Gavin was supposed to be in Istanbul around this time. When I picked up my phone to text him, there was a message from him; saying he was now in Istanbul. We called him and agreed to meet, which extended to inviting him over for dinner. We had a lovely visit and marveled how a couple from Canada met a fellow from Australia in El Salvador, then hooked up again in Istanbul. WOW!

The next day we went to the Grand Bazaar. We missed it the first time in Istanbul. We walked there and although we were impressed with the building,

we found it to be filled with jewelry shops and high end items. We didn’t even go into any shops. It just did not appeal to us.

We sat outside the Bazaar and watched people come and go. The plaza was filled with people. Where do they all come from? Where are they going? The tram went by every 3 to 5 minutes. Each carriage filled with people. We just sat there, wondering.

Finally, we started to make our way ‘home’. We found a pomegranate juice vendor. Pierre had never tried real pomegranate juice. It was only about two dollars for a glass. I bought one, Pierre tried it. He bought one for himself.

One thing can be said for the Turks, they know how to display food so that you want to buy it.

Just around the corner from our Airbnb was a jewelry store. As we were walking by the owner chatted us up and invited us in for a cup of tea. (It is considered very rude not to accept an offered tea.) The trick worked. Pierre ended up buying me a sultanite ring. I cannot say if the gems are real, but it looks real nice.

We gave the owner and his assistant Canada flag pins, which they were both still wearing the next day.

Pierre was looking for a specific ring for himself. The owner said he did not have such a ring, but his cousin may have one. He escorted us to his cousin’s shop. While Pierre was looking at rings the assistant brought out some ladies rings for me to look at. Now I had been looking in lots of jewelry stores and junk shops for a ring just like the one I had lost in Guatemala last year. There was one ring in the selection shown to me that was not anything like my lost ring; it was nicer! I asked the price and thought it was a bit too pricey. But after we left the shop, Pierre said that I will probably regret not buying it, because it was so nice. I agreed and went back into the shop to try it on again. While I was doing that, Pierre handed the owner his credit card and paid for it. It made me cry.

He said my face lit up when I saw it and he knew my search for the replacement for the one I lost was over. What a guy 🙂

We found out later that the shop owner from the first shop is a famous singer in Turkey. He showed us his YouTube videos. We were not overly impressed with his singing but maybe it was just not our genre.

We took the metro to the airport for our trip to Abu Dhabi…..