Istanbul -the rest of the story

Istanbul is really a marvelous city. I am sure that if Mark spent a year here he could run for mayor. There are not many americans here, maybe because the dollar is so weak, or maybe because we have become a little paranoid of moslems and their culture. Almost every vendor (and that is just about every male in istanbul) starts by saying something to us in german--guten tag etc. I say that my english is better than my german. Then they say Where you from, I say America. They say I love America, than they ask if we like Bush. The answer we give to that varies from no! to a blank stare depending if we just want to move on with our business. Next they absolutely need to know what state we are from. When we say Utah they get all excited and yell to their collegues in the shops or restaurants While they yell out Mehmet, or Okur (Utah Jazz Star from Istanbul) Then they ask if we are mormons, which I find very strange but I guess Mehmet is so popular on TV here that they all know about mormons. The conversation always ends with them guaranteing us the maximum discount in thier shop or stall or what ever they are hauling around in their wheelbarrows that day. My favorite was when after going through this routine the shopkeeper told me to buy from him because he was the least dishonest man in the bazzar. He was probably from Orem. All Mormons should come to Turkey this is the new promised land for us.

My favorite site so far was the Topaki Palace. They have a fantastic museum full of weapons and swords, the treasury is jam packed with gold and jewels in every form imaginable from baby cribs to swords and guns. But the best of all is the holy relic room where an imman chants verses from the koran 24 hours a day and you can see a tooth of the holy prophet, his whiskers, and and actual footprint set in solid stone of Mohhamed. There are numerous other relics of bone teeth and swords. It is one of the holy pilgrimage sites for all good moslems. There were believers from all over the world looking at these relics.

For Alex who is tired of Japanese food I will tell you that the food here is definately better than Eastern europe. We are eating probably just what you would imagine here, shish kebab, lots of vegetables mainly tomatoes and cucumbers, olives, pita and turkish bread, hummus, gyro like sandwiches, and rice pudding. (My friend Richard Shafer says that only mormons and turks know how to make rice pudding). The Fish is also good. There are street vendors everywhere selling hugel sesame coated bagels, corn on the cob, pistachios and nuts, turkish delight candy, and various other treats. I will include a picture of one of these little carts.

There is an amazing number of sights to see here. Yesterday we went up the Bosphorus on an all day boat ride it was spectacular and hard to compare wtih anything we have ever seen. The boat was loaded with nicotine addicted germans, and japanese caring about 65% of their body weight in camera gear. I wonder waht they are blogging about us as they write home. We stopped at little towns and villages as we cruised up the straits to the mediterranean.

Today we went to St. Sophias a massive cathedral first built in the year 400 (thats right it is not a typo) and rebuilt many times over the centuries. Finally conquered by the moslems in the year 1200 and converted to a mosque. Truly the most amazing church I have ever seen the inside filled with mosaics and the the tombs of christian crusaders, and moslem conquers. It seems as if we can all get along in death OK and create a lovely environment.

I am sure it would be possible to spend years here and never see all the sights, or eat off all the vendor carts, but for us our time here is coming to an end.