Hairy Cat Bum...

Turkey is fast paced.. in certain areas. Istanbul- WAY fast paced. Think of taxi's everywhere. Buses everywhere. Cars everywhere. People everywhere. Honestly it's amazing how many people live in Istanbul. Google said that there is 13.5 million people in Istanbul. Whoa. That's more than I thought. But seriously, the city is old and has so much rich history to it. Even taking a taxi is entertaining. Never a dull moment. Also, very very rich area. I would say 45% have NICE vehicles. BMW, Lamborghini, Maserati, Range Rover, Porshe, Mercedes... you name it, they are everywhere.

Then you get to the outskirts of Istanbul- the in between areas from the big cities like Istanbul and Ankara.. and its serene and quiet. Very green, very peaceful almost puts you to sleep. haha Most of the time it is really poor too. Very humble on the outskirts, houses and apartments falling apart... literally foundations disintegrating. Dirty. I enjoy being able to see both aspects of Turkey. It gives me a great perspective of how nice the nice is and how low the low is. I wouldn't have this perspective if it weren't for a MIL (mother in law) who is Turkish. It has been such a blessing to have her be able to give me the non-touristy tour. I have really been enjoying it.

It hasn't been easy. In fact, I have been really ill at one point. Luckily, not sick enough to go to the hospital, but close. Guess that comes with the territory of traveling where no tourists usually travel. Also very Luck, John was able to give me a blessing and his mom could get me turkish medicine to help me out. Boy did it work wonders! I was healed. Just. like. that. Amen.

A few things to note: I actually miss food that I am familiar with. Don't get me wrong, the food here is AMAZING. It's that- today we were at the airport to fly down to Marmaris from Istanbul, and we were hungry so the only options for food was McDonald's or Arby's (go figure). We decided on McDonald's because it was more familiar to us being in foreign countries and we were a little nervous Arby's would be too disgusting. Anyway, I'm not a cheerleader for Mickey D's but BOY! Was it ever the most delicious burger. Oh a BURGER! I decided, today, I LOVE burgers. Here they eat lamb, goat, and other weird meats. They are good, but a taste to be acquired too. Also, its like the options for food literally at every restaurant are all the same. One plate will contain Lamb meat (called Doner), an ice cream scoop of rice, 4 french fries (only 4), 1 tomato cut in half, shredded lettuce, and a hot pepper.  Also, they eat a ton of fresh fruits and veggies all the time, all day long. It's delish!

CLICK to watch the video, its the Turkish Version of a Roller Coaster haha :)

Another note: The taxi driver's are all different here. Some will be calm, taking there time, others will be insanely wild in their driving- I've gotten fairly used to feeling like I might die at any moment while in a taxi here. But none beats this one from yesterday. I felt like I was on a ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I was bracing myself the entire time. Bracing like one arm up on the ceiling of the car, one arm grabbing something else, feet pressing the imaginary break pedal like it was my full time job. It was crazy... The greatest part- John caught on film... see for yourself.


Please note that the song playing in the video was the same song playing in the taxi. haha

Well, we are off tomorrow to go sailing the Aegean Coast for 7 whole days! Which means, no internet. Wah, wah. But really, I'm am thrilled for this. This is a once in a life time, great opportunity. We are lucky to know someone willing to take us out on his boat for that long. I'll post about that when we get back!

P.s. I didn't know what to title this post so I asked John to give me a random name (he not knowing what for) and Hairy Cat Bum is what I got...