Turkey

Tomorrow night we leave for Turkey. It won't be our first visit -- between 1998 and 2000 we made a number of trips, road-tripping from the Aegean to central Anatolia and the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. But we haven't been back for ten years. We're thrilled to finally be returning.

I planned to write a post about Turkey before we left, a post about the strange sensation of arriving somewhere new and immediately feeling absolutely at home.

I wanted to describe big, big landscapes and roads that go on forever. I hoped to revisit a lunch of grilled trout and chopped salad taken by a rushing river while a herd of cows looked on, and bastirma sandwiches eaten sitting on the hood of our rental car in the middle of a vast plain somewhere between Kayseri and Sivas.

I'd like to tell you about dozens of kindnesses in small towns, received from strangers with whom we couldn't communicate in words. And about warm welcomes from urbanites in big-city Istanbul.

I wanted to describe what it's like to fall so hard for a place that you vow, at the end of your first week there, to learn its language -- and then actually follow through because in your heart of hearts you believe that some day, some way, you'll be back for longer than a visit.

But I've got deadlines and passed deadlines and packing to deal with. Maybe I'll write something on the plane tomorrow night. Or maybe I'll wait till we're there.

In the meantime, Dave's put together a lovely slide show of images of Turkey in the late 90s, accompanied by music from one of our favorite Turkish singers.

Enjoy! The next time you hear from us, ben Istanbul'dan yazı olacak (I'll write from Istanbul).

Comments

[maya dabbagh]

I loved what you wrote about Turkey .I am french and was born to expat parents working in Ankara in the early seventies. As an expat myself now living in New York, when we take holidays with my family, we go back to France for a couple of days and then head straight to Turkey for real holidays! It still feels like going home to me : wherever we go we always feel welcome, from Istanbul, Ankara, from little gem towns such as Kalkan and Kas, to Kayseri (where they indeed have the best pastirma but boy does your sweat and urine stink for a week after eating that beauty!!!), to Adana (for the best spycy kebabs) to Sivas (best kiymali pide) and the out of this world capadoccia and its Mars-like landscape. And I miss stuffing myself on a fried mussel sandwich with garlic sauce from the streets of Istanbul! Have a wonderful trip!

[Lonnie Ami]

Have a good trip in Turkey. I can't wait for you to blog about your adventures.

[Trish Anderton]

Have a blast and eat some bourek for me!

[hockman]

Look forward to your posts on Istanbul!

My wife and I just got back after 9 days in Istanbul. We love this city -- one of the greatest cities in the world. Wonderful food as well. Being a fan of seafood I had delicious kalkan, levrek, cipura, octopus etc., almost everyday. The lamb was good too but then I am not a fan of lamb...

Turks are such warm and hospitable people even in a large city like Istanbul.

[Kalkan Villas]

For sure, you have a lot of things and places to see and visit in Turkey! I am glad you had the chance to visit this magnificent country!