I am grateful for what I am and have.
My thanksgiving is perpetual.
-Henry David Thoreau
Blessed. Thankful.
That is how we felt coming home from Turkey. If you know us at all, you know we have this
goal to experience the world on an intimate level. Not a quick run-through of a list of cities,
but a real experience in as many places as possible. I want to understand how a different
landscape and a separate history shapes a day for someone. Shapes a life. The past.
The future. And I want to know
how that understanding shapes me.
There
is no place on this Earth that we don’t want to go. But the world is a mighty big place. Having a goal like this entails a prioritized list of destinations. It might not be a surprise that Turkey was WAY down on that
list. I can’t count the number of times
I heard the question, “Why Turkey?” And
the honest truth is…if the opportunity hadn’t so graciously and seamlessly been
placed into my lap, I don’t know for certain we would have gone on our
own!
Why Turkey?
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| The incredibly sweet Kaan and Yeliz |
We went to Turkey because we have two dear Turkish friends,
Kaan and Yeliz, who clued us in on some great ticket prices and promised us a
free place to stay. And did I mention
that Yeliz's mother would be cooking almost every
night? In the end…the better question
was…Why Not?
And that, my friends, is why we spent Thanksgiving in Turkey.
I really wanted to tell you about this trip. We came home the weekend after Thanksgiving,
and therefore, by ridiculous American standards, the beginning of Christmas. One thing led to another and the day after Christmas it occurs to me
that I had not stopped to tell you some of my favorite stories. I will take the next few weeks to share some
of these with you. But the real truth is that I don't want to forget them, as I am notoriously prone to do!
In the meantime,
here are a few pictures to set the stage.
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| Taksim Square |
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| Pistachio Rolls dripping with Honey!! |
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| Istanbul |
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| The Turkish lady who makes the pita bread at the famous Iskender restaurant in Bursa |
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| Istanbul |
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| Istanbul skyline at sunset |
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| Hagia Sophia Museum. |
