I assumed the same would work for my trip here- a big embarrassment within a few hours of stepping off of the plane, and bingo- I'd have nowhere to go but up.
So after a day here in Istanbul, I have nowhere to go but up. That's the good news. The bad is that I couldn't even wait until I was off the plane.
No sooner had we taken off from London, I was asleep to Ben Stiller's voice in Night at the Museum. Although my eyes were closed, my mouth definitely wasn't. While being woken up for meal time on the plane (yes, they even have the kebaps on the plane), I couldn't help but notice the flight attendant glance down at the massive, Ontario-shaped drool stain on my shirt. I'd like to thank my mouth and lack of control for the three hours of embarrassment.
I'd been hesitant to fly here because of the flooding in Istanbul that swept through the city only a day or two ago. On my cab ride to the hotel, the streets were dry, the sidewalks and houses were and it seemed that the only water was on my shirt. Still.
The most surreal part of the Istanbulian experience is the call to prayer throughout the day. Although it's not done by the muezzin anymore (having been replaced by loudspeakers), the haunting song can be heard throughout the city. The Blue Mosque starts the call, and all the smaller surrounding mosques chime in, making for an eerily orchestrated event.
So far, I've learned three things about Istanbul:
1) Lanes on the highway, speed limits, turn signals, traffic lights and pedestrian rights are, for the most part, arbitrary and meaningless.
2) Air conditioners only need/have one setting- Turbo.
3) The AK-47 is the weapon of choice for guarding information booths.
The proof of my travels can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2174734&id=94807105&l=de6c0614cb
Next stop: Eskisehir. I've been told by one Turk that it's 15 hours there, another told me 3. One said it would be around 30 Euro for a ticket, another told me 250. I'm beginning to think that the city is made-up.
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