Turkey, Part 1!

Since I've been in Turkey for a few weeks and I'm comfortably settled into my local Starbucks with my laptop, I thought it a good time to tell you about my impressions of Turkey. :D

Istanbul
Before I arrived here, everyone I talked to raved about how amazing Istanbul is and how boring Ankara is. Seriously. Everyone. "Oh, you will love Istanbul! But why are you going to Ankara?? There's nothing there." I kept having to defend it by telling them that I have ESL students in Ankara that I wanted to meet. So I was expecting Istanbul to be amazing.

And then... I didn't like it.

My apologies to Istanbul fans and residents.

The best parts about Istanbul for me were visiting with Nazli and her husband (thank you so much for your hospitality!) and running and walking on the seawall near my Airbnb. The seawall reminded me a lot of home, and it was peaceful.

The rest of the city... not so peaceful. Too many people, too many crowds. And the crowds weren't just there. They were *insistently* there. Pushing and shoving and trampling over each other. The first time I went to the historic centre I felt like I was in a sardine can (a very loud one). I couldn't enjoy the walk or the sights because I was being pushed down the sidewalk by the horde. The second time I went on a work day so that it was less busy... but then I was being accosted every 5 feet by people trying to sell me their wares. I still couldn't enjoy it. I just wanted to walk in peace and look around, but it was impossible. Both times, I cut my visit short because I was so frustrated.

On that second visit I went to the Grand Bazaar just to see what was there. It had many, many beautiful works of craftsmanship and art. I would have loved to slow down and look at them more carefully, but stopping at all meant having salespeople in my face who wouldn't take no for an answer. So I quickly walked through and left (and still got stopped several times by people who wouldn't take no for an answer).

I get that these are cultural differences, but that doesn't mean that I

enjoy it. Some people like that sort of environment, but it's just not for me. I want to be able to walk in peace, at my own pace, look around, and take things in. Istanbul doesn't allow that. So I was happy to move on.

Ankara
Ankara is so much more chill! In my first week here only ONE salesperson has approached me (trying to sell me botox and various other "beauty" treatments, like hair treatments. I asked him why he didn't like my hair, lol). I've visited one really awesome museum so far, the Roman Bath open air museum--and they have a lot more cool museums and places that I want to visit. I am actually going to extend my visit here from two weeks to four weeks, because I am enjoying the city and I like my Airbnb. It's not so crowded here and there is lots to see and do. I can just hang out here for a bit and take it in. Much more my speed. :)