Where's Grayleen?

As they say, there’s no second chance at a first impression.  Turkey got it right the first time and did it with style.  The incredible warmth of our unexpected welcome to Istanbul stunned us and left us wondering what else this country would serve up.

As we often do upon arriving in a new city, Aileen and I decided to head out on a more or less aimless stroll around town to get our bearings.  With no real idea of where we were headed, we started to head downhill towards the waterfront.  A few minutes later we arrived at a beautiful boardwalk along the edge of the Bosphorus, the narrow waterway that connects the Black and Marmara Seas and cuts Istanbul straight in half.  Right as we crossed the road and stepped foot on the path, a group of four middle-aged men called out to us from the big boulders that lined the edge of the water.  They made wild beckoning motions with their hands.  One held a piece of chicken in one hand and pointed to it emphatically with the other.  This could only be interpreted as, “Get over here!  We have fresh grilled chicken and you know you want some!”  Well, sure we did! 

Grilling on the Bosphorus waterfront in Istanbul

We climbed over the rocks to where they were sitting and joined them as they greeted us with big smiles.  Among the four just one man spoke just a few broken words of English and we, of course, spoke zero Turkish.  Luckily language wasn’t needed as they proceeded to set us up with loaves of fresh bread, tomatoes and cucumbers, and chicken off of their portable grill.  I sampled the local beer, Efes, and Aileen tried out Raki, a clear anise-flavored spirit that turns white when mixed with mineral water.  Tasty stuff!

Despite the language barrier, we were all able to learn quite a lot about our new friends them about us.   It turned out that Aileen is a common Turkish name while Gray, unfortunately, is not.  They welcomed Aileen warmly and pretended to shun me as the only non-Turk. Luckily, they soon renamed me Mustafa and welcomed me back!    After a while, they called over a whole group of teenage Turks who were out enjoying the beautiful evening.  As the sun sunk lower in the sky, everyone took turns playing a guitar and singing various Turkish songs.  We continued like this for many hours and enjoyed a truly magical evening.

Nothing like a little guitar to set the mood

A few more photos from Istanbul, a city that surprised us with it’s modernness, liveliness, diversity, and beauty, can be found here.