Fourth day in Istanbul. First take a look at the video clip below. It’s not a floating restaurant it’s a floating kitchen! Look closely, I’m not rocking the camera it’s the boat that’s rocking. On the left of the boat you see the still dock! Man, do these guys deserve a tip or what? They’re grilling up fish sandwiches and they are grilling them up as fast as they can! There are actually three boats next to one another and they all seem to be sellinng them just as fast. This is crazy! and if you were wondering, the sandwiches were great!

Download Video fishfood

Download Video fishfood
Notice the guy in the middle with his hand next to his face? He’s talking on the phone!

Download Video Istanbul 2
Fast forward this one to the middle of the clip.

On to the rest of the trip. Well I got over the jet lag right away – yipper! And I’m enjoying my time here in Turkey. My first impressions? I have come to find that it is a place where East and West actually melt together. As I ride the train during rush hour I see the evidence in the faces of the commuters. You can see the greek, the roman, the middle eastern and eastern european blood in these faces. And these Turk faces? They are definitely a group with very…. shall we say three dimensional facial features? It is also a predominantly  caucasian group (like 99%), so I get a decent number of stares when I’m on the train. The melting pot is also evident in every part of the culture: food, dress, architecture and music too. I find it interesting to see the architectural similarities with India as well. It has become very obvious that Turkey was a major part of the silk road.

So unlike visiting the rest of Europe where it’s one cathedral/church after another, or East Asia where it’s one buddhist temple after another, here it’s one mosque after another. They are everywhere, I guess when you have to pray 5 times a day…  Speaking of which today I got to see the footprint, the sword and I kid you not, clippings from the beard of the Prophet. And in the room next door I saw the right arm and part of the skull of John the Baptist. Unfortunately there will be no accompanying photos to evidence what I witnessed today, as photography was forbidden, so you will have to take my word for it.