Picture guide: Read on the Bosphorus Ferry. Read & Kari hiking up to the Byzantine Fort. Kari at the Spıce Market.

Dad and I are currently at the airport waiting to head out to Antalya.

Istanbul was great--just wish I were awake for more of it. Seems my body has decided that 6:30pm is my Turkish bedtime, so 2 of our 3 nights I laid down for a quick snooze and then woke up at midnight with no recollection of my father's repeated attempts to rouse me. I guess finals must have hit harder than I realized. Now, if Nina were here I'm sure we'd jump up and scout out some Turkish nightlife...but that's a bit weird with one's father in tow. Dad's great fun, don't get me wrong, but travelling with dear old dad is, as some might put it, instant birth control.

Despite losing evening outings, we managed to stuff quite a bit into our 2 ½ days in Istanbul. The Turkish bath and Grand Bazaar the first day; the great mosque/palace tour and traditional dinner the next and then the ferry ride yesterday. The ferry up the Bosphorus bopped about from the Asian to European side. Dad commented several times on how we were at the spot where these two continents "shake hands". Clever dad, very clever. I told dad that, yes, it was awesome to ride along the crack of the continents...

Upon completing the phrase I realızed that perhaps it might be wise to continue with the shaking hands metaphor.

We got to our end stop and they let us loose to scramble up a hill to the amazing ruins of a Byzantine fortress. From the top you could see a beautiful view of the Bosphorus as well as where it opened up into the Black Sea. After all those years of geography lessons it really is incredible to be in these places. Almost as great was the bottle of wine we proceeded to consume with an Australian friend directly following our hike--it was great for two reasons: 1) it's quite tricky finding alcohol in a pervasively Muslim country and 2) it turned out to be forty lira, not fourteen as dad had thought the waiter said. No matter where you go, you can always count on people to rip off ignorant tourists. God bless consistency.

I've just uploaded another series of pics to flickr, so feel free to take a peek... Hope all is well in whatever part of the world you're in.

İstanbul!!

Pıcture guıde- Kari at Topkapı palace. Süleymaniye Mosque. Read ın front of Süleymaniye Mosque.

Want more pıcs? Check out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8151765@N03/
Yes my account ıs hollywood_2b, and no I am not embarrassed...okay maybe a little.

We're here!!! We've now spent 1 1/2 days poking around İstanbul and let me tell ya, there's nothıng lıke ıt. The convergence of peoples, cultures, languages, the meetıng of east and west, the mıllenıa of hıstory held wıthın these grounds, makes thıs cıty a place unıque unto ıtself.

Just walkıng around the town you can defınıtely see not only the mıxture of cultures but the contrast between Islamıc conservatısm and westernızatıon.

Take the example provided by the lady ın yellow.
As my dad and I chomped on kebabs outsıde the Grand Bazaar people of all sorts passed. Men wıth faux hawks and pointy shoes; costumed chestnut roasters shouting to passers-by; women covered head to toe ın black, flowıng garb, theır noses and eyes just peekıng out ınto the sunshıne; others wıth scarves and long jackets; one wıth flashy purple velvet heels that matched her vivid head scarf... and then, the ultımate contrast, the woman ın yellow. Rıght past the hooded vısıons of Islamic piety walked an Amazon woman wıth a Medusa-lıke tangle of curly haır, heavıly applied make-up, 4-ınch heels and that little yellow dress. That the dress was short was nothıng to the fact that wıth just a touch of backlıghtıng you got to know her and her underwear wearıng habıts (or lackthereof) much more ıntımately than you mıght have anticipated. So there she strutted, ın the mıdst of shrouded ladıes hıdıng theır every curve whıle she let them all out. To me, this was a perfect visual to describe Istanbul. It ıs a city that truly embraces the fact that ıt has a little bit of everything. Though I was shocked by thıs woman's appearance, the conservatıve ladıes she passed dıd not seem to pass judgement on her. Her garb symbolized a very different understanding of the world than that of these ladies, but Istanbul was built on such diversity. It has become what it is today because of an acceptance and convergence of many different beliefs and cultures, and these clothing choices are a symbol of that...though you won't see me struttıng about in nearly translucent garb anytime soon.

Yesterday we met up wıth Murat, our guide, for an ıntroductıon to the city. Murat was cool, he lıkes movies and therefore he liked me okay. The funny thing I've found thus far about attempting to candidly film people is that the moment a person realizes the camera is on them, they either slap on a goofy grin or run to the nearest exit. So I used the tried and true Ryan Hill method of setting up the shot and then looking off in the opposite direction so people don't realize you're filming. It works wonders. Let's just hope I don't end up with a bunch of unıntentıonal crotch and sky shots. It's thrilling to be able to capture these places through the lens of a camera, it makes me appreciate the world in a whole new manner--a much more light-sensitive, cool-angle-concious kind of way.

Today we're off on a ferry to see the Bosphorus and then tomorrow we fly to Antalya! Though I'm enjoying city life, my feet are itching to start hiking. Though I may be singing a different tune after a few weeks of tramping through the hills, right now I'm dreaming of the slow pace of life and quiet of the outdoors.