A Trip to the Spice Bazaar

I'm getting back to life and blogging after a bit of a work imposed hiatus. For the past couple of my months, my job took all of my time and attention, it also made life a bit boring with glimpse of daylight few and fleeting. Most of my days were spent in the office at my computer, including weekends and evenings. However, before things got incredibly crazy, I had one Sunday afternoon off in Istanbul and so I headed to the Spice Bazaar to soak up a bit of local color. In between serious haggling on our purchases I captured a few pictures, now that I'm back home and trying to get back into the normal swing of life, I've finally managed to get them off my camera and onto my long neglected blog.

"I know the world is new, and what you lost lives on inside of you."
Lavender Diamond - I Don't Recall


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Lunch Conversations

One of my favorite photos I've taken in Istanbul - maybe because I wake up so many mornings to the call of the seagulls.

One day last week I was out to lunch with friend. Me, an American, a Turk, an Italian, a Brit and a Greek-American. Not surprisingly we were talking food and how we'd adapted our normal diets during out time in Istanbul, eventually the topic turned to grocery shopping here. One person admitted that here, like everywhere she travels the grocery store was one of the first things she liked to see. Soon we all admitted that grocery stores are one of our favorite cultural experiences when we travel and a must see on any itinerary.

I can't help but wonder if we are unique - or are there more people out there who hit up the grocery store on every visit to a new country.

Rufus Wainwright / Dido: I Eat Dinner Pin It

Bosphorus Sunset

I had a lovely lazy Sunday - a sleep in, spent some time showing a new team mate the neighborhood and then tea in the afternoon with another friend. In between I did a little walking in the rain - it was cold, but so nice to be out and away from the office, a rare treat these days.


I didn't quite manage to get out and see anything new in Istanbul this week, but I did spent some time processing these photos I took of the Bosphorus around sunset a while back. The warm light makes it seem so warm, but in reality it was a bit chilly out in the water. It made me stop and think about how often I look at pictures in Instagram, blogs, etc and make an assumption about someone or their life. At times I see like the warm light in their photos and assume their life is so much brighter or better than mine. But if I really stop and think logically, I suspect more often than not, there are problems just like I have lurking behind those shiny photos and reality is a bit chillier than it might first appear.


A a reminder to myself that my happiness or satisfaction shouldn't be judged next to my perceptions of someone else's happiness or satisfaction.

"Sometimes I can't keep it together, but I'm never going to give up."
Ryan Bingham - Keep it Together Pin It

Prayer and Gelato

I'm listening to the evening call to prayer as I write this - and I'm likely to wake up tomorrow to the same thing. Hearing it again is one of the best parts about being back in Istanbul. I didn't realize I missed it while I was gone, but I did. I'll admit, there are a few mornings when I don't love it - those when I'm not interested in getting up at six, but by and large I love the way the call gives this city character and a voice, and I even like that reminder to take a minute and send up some thanks to the heavens.

On a completely unrelated topic - I am planning a trip to Italy for late March / early April. I've been dreaming of this trip for more than a decade and I can hardly wait. I'm still in the depths of planning - so far I think I've decided I'll start in Florence, explore the city for a couple of days and then use it as a base for another three days as I take day trips through Tuscany. Then I'll travel to Rome and spend a few days there. If you've been I'd love any tips or ideas. Must sees, places to see, gelato to eat....

"Time on your own girl is time on your own, but still you fly."
Neil Halstead - See You on Rooftops Pin It

Back in Istanbul

I'm settled back into Istanbul and for the most part it feels as if I've only been gone a few days instead of a month. I spent Saturday in the office and Sunday mostly in the apartment trying to nip a cold in the bud because I don't have time to be sick on this project. I did manage to take a walk in my neighborhood on Sunday to keep the walls from closing in on me, but that was the limit of my exploration so far this trip. These photos aren't from that walk, they are a batch I found from a Bosphorus cruise I took last November.

I've had a few friends and family members send me notes over the last few days making sure I was okay after they saw reports on the news about the embassy bombing in Turkey and the American woman who was killed in Istanbul while on holiday. Both events are very sad, and while I'm not impacted, they were reminders that we all live in a world that requires us to be vigilant and careful no matter where we are.

I'm here working with a good sized team. We live and work in a quiet suburb, far from the center of the city. We live in an apart-hotel - an apartment building with 20 units that is operated like a hotel. All 20 units are filled by my coworkers. We live together, work together and are even picked up and delivered to and from work together in a mini-bus. It is an insulated and protected environment - so I've always felt incredibly safe in Istanbul.

I don't think what happened this week will change the way I feel safety wise about Istanbul, but it was a sad reminder that our world isn't as peaceful as I know it can and will be someday.

"I only wanted to sing songs."

Kathleen Edwards - For the Record

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Looking Back - Moving Forward

After a unplanned break from blogging (and a few other things in life.) I'm trying to get back into a routine and trying to find my voice again. I've made it a habit to keep this blog and my real job separate for a couple of reason - first I'm a consultant so I feel an obligation to my client's business private and, more importantly, my job is the kind that has the ability to take over my entire life if I'm not careful and keeping it out of this blog leaves me a job-free creative outlet. I'm going to see if I can skate a fine line with this post and talk about work without actually talking about it.

A friend asked me a week ago after I shared some of what I'd been up to in Istanbul over the past two months if I took the time to journal or write down some of the things I'd learned, because it was one of the periods in my life where I experienced a lot of growth. I realized that this is the only place where I actual take the time keep any sort of a record so here goes nothing.

I spent the last three months in Istanbul working on a project with impossible deadlines and immense pressure - and I was the project's team leader. We joked about how the project felt a bit like climbing Everest: impossible, exhausting, dangerous and strangely exhilarating. I didn't sleep much and each morning I started the day with a prayer that I was up to the challenges I'd face that day.

I don't think I've ever worked this hard, been under so much pressure or had so much responsibility. It was scary and empowering. I walked away feeling like I could take on the world and like I could sleep for a week (which I did.) I've always carefully filtered myself and my opinions, waiting to make sure when I said something I wouldn't make too many waves, worried a lot about having everyone like me - not necessarily bad traits, but traits that can be somewhat limiting. I felt like surviving this period I broke free, I feel like I've found the confidence to be myself and if people like that great, if not, I don't feel the need to try and be something else just to make them happier or more comfortable.

I'm not sure that lesson will always stick - but just having that realisation once in my life is pretty powerful. And I hope I can always reflect back to how amazing it felt to just be true to myself and not to try and mold myself into whatever it is I think people want me to be. Starting 2013 on a high is an incredible feeling.

Hey Marseilles - Looking Back
"If you're looking back you'll never move your feet"

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Lost and Found

Katie Herzig - Lost and Found Pin It

Bake Sale?

I stumbled across this group of women cooking and selling their goods in an Istanbul neighborhood. I'm calling it a bake sale, since I don't quite know what else to call it. I loved that it felt both familiar - something I'd see in my small home town, and get unique and different (sitting on the floor, the mats, the long sleeves and scarves.)

The more I travel, the more convinced I am that people across the world are more similar than they are different and that those differences are what makes the world a better place.

I mean, this collection of balloons including Hello Kitty and SpongeBob - could be taken from any place on earth. What similarities surprise you the most when you travel?

Joshua Radin - Anywhere Your Love Goes Pin It

Searching for the Museum of Innocence

One of my coworkers recently finished reading Orhan Pamunk's Museum of Innocence and read that the museum based on the book had recently opened in Istanbul. We decided to see if we could find it. We wandered through a LOT of area, got lost multiple times, but ultimately got to the museum.

I haven't read the book, so I was more interested in the photo ops along the way. Sometimes I think a city that is still new to you can be just like a museum, with something fascinating around every corner.

Like all big cities, Istanbul has a lot of graffiti - which surprised me for some reason when I first arrived. I guess I associate it with gangs and I tend to think more about the US when I think graffiti.

The museum was in a old house - so it was very much in a residential area. I managed to get a few faces of people watching the visitors to the museum.

I was also totally charmed by the little remnants of every day life we saw along the block: a kitchen window, with dishes drying in the drainer.

A forgotten shopping bag.

Yogurt containers used as flower pots.

A single forgotten shoe.

A flea market on the street.

I'm convinced the best way to experience a city is to get lost. You never know what you are going to find.

I'm loving the new Avett Brothers album, including the closing track: Life. Pin It

Wood Houses of Istanbul

I'll be honest, I can't remember what neighborhood in Istanbul these photos came from, I found them in my batch of photos from a May weekend with friends. We were wandering and found this area full of old wooden houses. Thew were so colorful and charming I couldn't stop snapping.

The colors reminded me of the painted lady houses in San Francisco, even though the styles are different. I also loved the diversity of the neighborhood.

Not all of them were colorful - this one looked like it was on it's last legs and was crying out for someone to come along and give it some love. A google search tells me these wooden houses are somewhat famous and rare - many were destroyed by fire.

Aaron Embry's Raven Song has kept me singing along today. Pin It

Ferry Hopping

We did a little ferry hopping to Kanlica, a neighborhood on the Asian side of Istanbul. We had two goals, get out on the water and try the yogurt that has made this neighborhood famous. It was a very successful trip.

The yogurt alone was worth the trip - it was delicious, and worth the reputation. Bonus was the people watching. We weren't in a touristy area, so it felt like we were getting a more authentic experience, with friends and families just hanging out in their own neighborhood.

Fingers crossed that we get back out here again very soon.

I've had Snow Patrol on repeat for several days now, an old favorite that just keeps getting better. I'm in love with their Lifening.

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Bridging Continents

This is one of the bridges in Istanbul that links the European and Asian continents, I still find it amazing that I get to experience life in a city that literally spans two continents. To me this bridging of two continents is what makes Istanbul so special - it is a perfect mix of: Europe and Asia, old world and new world, familiar and exotic. I feel at once comfortable there and at the same time I'm intrigued daily by it's uniqueness.

My only regret is that I don't have enough time to explore!

These guys (with Utah roots) are starting to hit the big time: Imagine Dragons - It's Time. Pin It

On the Waterfront

I grew up in a landlocked state, so I didn't discover the joys of living near the water until I found myself living in Seattle a decade ago. Once I got used to life near the mountains and the water, I didn't every want to live another way.

Istanbul is surrounded by water, from the Bosphorus and all its bridges to the Golden Horn, it is hard to  not see water. Every time I've crossed the bridge in the background of the photo above it has been full of people fishing off the side.

I'm not sure I'm ready to take to the water on one of these boats - given that the Bosphorus is also full of oil and other tankers, I'm thinking I'd feel safer on something a bit larger.

This song has been a big hit in the US, it's a great celebration of a lazy day spent out on the water: Little Big Town - Pontoon.

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