Believe it or not, it was quite refreshing to touch down in modern Istanbul after spending the last 3 months in the developing world. We cabbed over to Hotel Poem, which was in old Sultanahmet, a wonderful neighborhood of cobblestone streets and beautiful buildings. Most of Istanbul is a mix of modern and ancient buildings with a great streetcar network to carry locals and tourists alike around the city. Even though it was January and the temperature barely reached above 60 degrees F, we were happy to be in the cosmopolitan city.
Everone's heard the jokes about being a Turkish millionnaire, but the Turkish government has actually revalued its currency, the Lira. To make it even more confusing, the Euro is also a common currency and ATMs also dispense American Dollars. We were really happy to have held onto our cheap pocket calculator that we picked up in Vietnam.
Istanbul is an anciet city filled with historic places from both the Muslim world and the Christian world. The sights and sounds stand out.
1. Great architecture can be found in the famous mosques of the city (both inside and out):
2. Colorful artifacts:
3. The food experience: both tastes and sounds.
Ever since the authors of this blog got together six and a half years ago, they have been talking about one day owning their own stainless steel manual citrus juicer. For years they never purchased one, just waiting for the perfect one to present itself. Not any old juicer would do. It would have to be a real "heavy lifter." As we wandered down the streets of Istanbul, we found many vendors selling fresh pomegranate juice. We asked the owner of a nice juicer where he purchased his. He pointed us in the right direction and we headed to the Bazaar. After much investigation and negotiation, we were the proud owners of one heavy lifter. However, this presented us with a new problem...
How to get this thing back home. We roamed the isles in search of a cheap duffle bag. Lo and behold, Sharon spotted a symbolic duffel bag that could not be passed up. It carried the San Francisco 49ers logo. We thought it to be the perfect one for our needs. It was a good thing that we only had one more stop on our journey before heading back to California.
A trip to Turkey would be incomplete without the requisite "Turkish bath" experience. Our hotel staff recommended a particular hammam that has been around for centuries. For those of you that have spent time in the steam room of your local gym, you'll be surprise to learn that this was quite a different experience. After disrobing and wrapping yourself in a cloth, you make your way wearing your wooden slippers to the domed steam room. The majority of the room is a massive heated stone platform on which you lie to warm up. After 30 minutes or so, we were taken into a side room where we lay on stone beds and were scrubbed enthusiastically from head to toe with soapy water and sponges. This is how they used to bathe in the old days before showers were installed in the home. After the scrub down, we sat on the floor near a sink, filled up buckets with cold water, and cooled ourselves down by pouring them over our bodies. 
Istanbul was quite an amazing place and a great introduction to the ancient culture of Turkey. We would certainly put it on our list of places to go back to, especially the far-reaching places off the beaten path.
For more photos on Istanbul, go to: grossmintblog.shutterfly.com
