Day 147 - Last day in Istambul- Bebek neighbourhood
Tuesday, November 27, 2018.
Today I told everybody that we needed to get out of the house. I'm becoming depressed in this apartment, it's always dark and the view from the windows isn't pretty. Gregory gets upset when I say that it looks like a poor neighborhood. He says I sound like a snob, but I'm just making notes and observations of what I see. I also compare Turkey with the parts of Mexico that I have seen. The neighborhood we're staying in is definitely changing because it is so close to the heart of Istanbul, the modern and industrial area of Taksim. They are remodeling the houses and there are many hostels and hotels, but there are also a lot of old houses that are run down, trash in the street, and with lots of rain, well, you get the picture. I kept telling myself that it is a temporary place and that we are extremely lucky to have a roof over our heads and everything we need, but today I just broke down. I was feeling very blue and homesick and I just needed to cry. I felt the urge to go home, but what home, I kept asking myself? California you would think, but for some funny reason, I felt like running home to Mexico, to my mom, to my family, to my childhood. I felt trapped and I wanted to run and get out there. I told Gregory that maybe seeing a clean and wealthy neighbourhood would cheer me up. I also wanted the kids to see that there are other areas besides our home.
We finally left the house around noon and we made it as far as Taksim square, where there was a small festival that we had seen many times but never checked out. We went in this time and we bought some engravings of Turkey for our house, and Sunshine was thrilled to find a book in English ( I think we read it in book club), Gregory loved looking at antiques and Danny boy asked for money to buy himself a Turkish tea and wait for us at a table. I feel bad sometimes, I think he is not really enjoying the trip as much as the rest of us. When we finish looking around, it was time for lunch, so we walked away from the touristy area and Gregory found a place where they had all sort of Turkish dishes. We ate there because we saw a lot of locals going in. That's always a good sign. The food was delicious, I got an expensive dish for $5 and the kids their famous durum kebab for $3.
After our delicious lunch, I was feeling much better and we decided to go to Bebek, which is a nice neighborhood near the water. We took the bus there. While waiting at the bus stop, I saw a girl with a lesson book in Spanish so of course, I made conversation with her in Spanish. She spoke more French so we ended up chatting in French. On the bus, I asked her if she knew anything about the women's protest on Sunday. She said they were protesting for women who were battered to death. I was shocked by her response. I thought it had been a peaceful protest about women's rights, but this girl explained that every year a lot of women die from their husband's abuse! More and more people got on the bus (packed like in Mexico) so we were split and couldn't talk anymore.
Another observation I would like to make is that when we were in the bus, more people were getting on through the back door. the front was completely full, but the people from the back who had just gotten on were passing their bus passes forward so they could get validated! I was so surprised to see that and see the honest people returned the cards to their proper owner. I really wanted to share this with the world, mainly everyone who speaks or thinks poorly of Muslim people. Once again, I have to say that Muslim people have been extremely friendly, helpful and we always felt safe here!
We passed the Dolmabache palace on the bus ride, my friend descended at the University and we continue our ride. We finally made it after 45 minutes. Sunshine wanted to walk by the water right away, so we did. Unfortunately, it started to rain so we ran to a very nice cafe called Kahve Dunyasi. We had delicious cappuccinos that came with a spoon made of chocolate, which was the best part. Of course, Daniel had his Turkish ice cream, even though it was a cold, rainy day! We sat there for a while, enjoying the Bosphorus and reading. Afterward, we walked around the neighborhood some more, seeing more upscale stores and restaurants. We walked to our bus stop and waited for our bus. This time it wasn't that crowded and we were able to sit down and enjoy the ride. We made it home by 7:00pm. We had a leftovers dinner, trying to finish all of our food because we hate to waste it. We also finished packing because we are leaving tomorrow. I honestly think we stayed here a little too long. We could have covered much more, but we were done after a week.
Today I told everybody that we needed to get out of the house. I'm becoming depressed in this apartment, it's always dark and the view from the windows isn't pretty. Gregory gets upset when I say that it looks like a poor neighborhood. He says I sound like a snob, but I'm just making notes and observations of what I see. I also compare Turkey with the parts of Mexico that I have seen. The neighborhood we're staying in is definitely changing because it is so close to the heart of Istanbul, the modern and industrial area of Taksim. They are remodeling the houses and there are many hostels and hotels, but there are also a lot of old houses that are run down, trash in the street, and with lots of rain, well, you get the picture. I kept telling myself that it is a temporary place and that we are extremely lucky to have a roof over our heads and everything we need, but today I just broke down. I was feeling very blue and homesick and I just needed to cry. I felt the urge to go home, but what home, I kept asking myself? California you would think, but for some funny reason, I felt like running home to Mexico, to my mom, to my family, to my childhood. I felt trapped and I wanted to run and get out there. I told Gregory that maybe seeing a clean and wealthy neighbourhood would cheer me up. I also wanted the kids to see that there are other areas besides our home.
We finally left the house around noon and we made it as far as Taksim square, where there was a small festival that we had seen many times but never checked out. We went in this time and we bought some engravings of Turkey for our house, and Sunshine was thrilled to find a book in English ( I think we read it in book club), Gregory loved looking at antiques and Danny boy asked for money to buy himself a Turkish tea and wait for us at a table. I feel bad sometimes, I think he is not really enjoying the trip as much as the rest of us. When we finish looking around, it was time for lunch, so we walked away from the touristy area and Gregory found a place where they had all sort of Turkish dishes. We ate there because we saw a lot of locals going in. That's always a good sign. The food was delicious, I got an expensive dish for $5 and the kids their famous durum kebab for $3.
After our delicious lunch, I was feeling much better and we decided to go to Bebek, which is a nice neighborhood near the water. We took the bus there. While waiting at the bus stop, I saw a girl with a lesson book in Spanish so of course, I made conversation with her in Spanish. She spoke more French so we ended up chatting in French. On the bus, I asked her if she knew anything about the women's protest on Sunday. She said they were protesting for women who were battered to death. I was shocked by her response. I thought it had been a peaceful protest about women's rights, but this girl explained that every year a lot of women die from their husband's abuse! More and more people got on the bus (packed like in Mexico) so we were split and couldn't talk anymore.
Another observation I would like to make is that when we were in the bus, more people were getting on through the back door. the front was completely full, but the people from the back who had just gotten on were passing their bus passes forward so they could get validated! I was so surprised to see that and see the honest people returned the cards to their proper owner. I really wanted to share this with the world, mainly everyone who speaks or thinks poorly of Muslim people. Once again, I have to say that Muslim people have been extremely friendly, helpful and we always felt safe here!
We passed the Dolmabache palace on the bus ride, my friend descended at the University and we continue our ride. We finally made it after 45 minutes. Sunshine wanted to walk by the water right away, so we did. Unfortunately, it started to rain so we ran to a very nice cafe called Kahve Dunyasi. We had delicious cappuccinos that came with a spoon made of chocolate, which was the best part. Of course, Daniel had his Turkish ice cream, even though it was a cold, rainy day! We sat there for a while, enjoying the Bosphorus and reading. Afterward, we walked around the neighborhood some more, seeing more upscale stores and restaurants. We walked to our bus stop and waited for our bus. This time it wasn't that crowded and we were able to sit down and enjoy the ride. We made it home by 7:00pm. We had a leftovers dinner, trying to finish all of our food because we hate to waste it. We also finished packing because we are leaving tomorrow. I honestly think we stayed here a little too long. We could have covered much more, but we were done after a week.
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| We thought you could see the turkey flag in the back, way back! |
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| European looking style home and stores with silly kids from CA! |
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Look Meme, Starbucks! (We promised Carol we would take pictures of the Starbucks around the world). |
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| View from the cafe! |
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