You awake here to the sounds of the call to prayer from minarets of The Blue Mosque. The Moslem ritual takes place four or five times throughout the day, the first at 5 or 6 a.m. You'd think it would be an intrusion, that early. But it's kind of enchanting - an old, familiar sound for those of us who lived in Turkey more than 30 years ago. It doesn't last long, reminds you of where you are and you can always go back to sleep when it's over. The Ambassador Hotel, where we are staying, offers a breakfast on the terrace - coffee (which I never expected to see over here), tea, boiled eggs, bread, butter, fruit, cheese, jellies and jams, juice. It's quite adequate.

After breakfast yesterday, our first full day in Istanbul, we made a beeline for the Grand Bazaar - 64 streets, 3,000 shops, 22 entrances and 25,000 employees. It's the MOTHER of all flea markets. I'm not sure how many centuries it's been there. Shops shine with gold, waft with leather goods and entice with exotic perfumes. Susie, Judy's 22 year old, bought a delightful blue belly dance outfit and several dresses priced at a mere 2 million Turkish Lira (TL). That's about $4. Judy bought an "evil eye" for her car and an Istanbul "weener dog" statue that even she admits is very ugly. But who would expect you'd find a weener dog in Istanbul? She's got a real weener back in the states, Dieter. He's rude but she adores him and has amassed probably one of the foremost weener dog collections anywhere.

I mostly tried to follow our wanderings through the Grand Bazaar on a map given to me at a restaurant we stopped at for delicious sandwiches and colas. While the women did their shopping, I talked to shopkeepers. They are all very friendly. One was a Kurd, from the eastern part of the country. A very nice guy, he talked briefly of the turmoil over here. He said most Turks in the west were friendly to him. Others want total war. He came to Istanbul for economic reasons. It's where the money is. He likes Istanbul but he seemed to prefer his homeland in the east. No surprise. Everyone laments the drop in tourism due to the political situation over here.
In Jamaica, native entrepreneurs incessantly approach, offering drugs. In Istanbul, it's carpet salesman. They aren't nearly as aggressive as the Jamaicans. A couple lines that work well to discourage them are: 1) You have cats who will only rip up new rugs, or 2) You lived here back in the 1960s and have an entire house full of Turkish rugs. The carpet guys take the news gracefully, without protest. We had our first encounter with Turkish water in the Bazaar. It was hot and humid and when some old man came by dispensing free glasses of ice cold water from a tank on his back, we accepted without really thinking. Whoops. Well the travel shot people back home gave us prescriptions and we've got all sorts of other medicine for the "trots." Let's hope, if it comes, it passes quickly.

In the afternoon, we walked to the shore of the Sea of Marmara, then around the Golden Horn to the opening of the bosphorus - a narrow channel separating Europe and Asia. The Bosphorus is about as crowded with ships as the Istanbul streets are with speeding, honking and screeching cars. These major international cities are an assault to the senses. Something is going on everywhere you look. The people have been very friendly. Almost all speak enough English to let you know the price of a beer or cola. Judy keeps ordering "diet" cola. We got a Coca Cola "light" in the Bazaar, which must be the same thing. There's a little more public affection shown than I remember from the old days. Turkish men and women - some in the traditional head scarves - can be seen holding hands and flirting. I've always found the Turkish women attractive. Judy says she sees the men as quite attractive now, but she didn't see it back then.

Hey, is this the front or the back of the Blue Mosque. I can't really tell. Still looks really big though, anyone seen the WC?

After the long walk along the shoreline, we had dinner and beers at the same restaurant where we had eaten the night before. A crossover singer - combining western song with the traditional Turkish - entertained. Judy and Susie had meatballs - a blend of lamb and beef, we suspect. Very good. Judy said she might go on an all meatball diet from here on out. I had chicken kabob which was also delicious. And we all had Shepherd's Salad - a wonderful blend of chopped up lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers swimming with vinegar and oil dressing. And bread, lots of bread. And did I mention the beer? It is vastly improved since the 1960s. I'm not sure what we are doing today although we were talking about a cruise on the Bosphorus. I seem to have quickly acclimated to the time change. I was up at 8 a.m. today, ate breakfast and wandered around awhile waiting for the women to awake. I've found a wonderful street corner right outside the hotel. I call it "my street corner." I sit there with a gaggle of Turk men and we watch the people, cars and buses flowing by. What a sight!

Yesterday we toured The Blue Mosque. Afterwards, Judy and Susan took a nap while I set out on foot to the Grand Bazaar to negotiate the purchase of some gold puzzle rings. It turns out the Bazaar was closed so I wandered in other directions and soon found myself in the middle of the largest street fair I've ever seen. Block after block and street after street of people selling clothes, toys, tools, shoes - you name it. It seemed like all of Istanbul was wandering the narrow streets. I've always been able to pass as a Turk and nobody paid me much mind. I had no idea where I was or where I was going because the streets snake back and forth on each other. After a couple hours, I came out by the train station which is near the water on the Golden Horn. I hate to admit this but I was hungry and there was a Burger King right there. I had a No. 1 "Value Menu" - Whopper and fries. It tasted just like a Whopper. I strolled along the piers awhile. Fishermen were grilling their catch right on their boat and selling it on bread to passersby. Can't get much fresher than that. I caught the train home, a reminder of the crowded buses from the Ankara days. I picked up my laundry, bought a bottle of vodka and stopped by this carpet shop on the corner by the hotel. Omar, the owner, really wants to sell me a carpet. We started out looking at a $900 carpet and we were down to a $600 one after some apple tea. Omar is another Kurd. He spoke openly of the prejudice against his people in the past. He feels things are better now. Susie bought a carpet and, at one point, I dramatically tossed four crisp $100 bills on the floor and told Omar and his partner, Shariff, to wrap up the $600 carpet for me. It took 5 million more TL, but I got away with a good one. We were all happy and we took pictures of each other. We found a place to eat kabobs in a reclining position, which was good. Finished the evening off with beers at our Middle East rock 'n' roll joint. They're always delighted to see us coming. Or maybe it's just Susie. We've chartered a yacht to explore the waters this morning. It's barely 9 a.m. Sunday in Istanbul and it's already hot. I kind of like hot weather so I'm comfortable. Judy's more of a Washington State weather person, so the 90 degree F temperatures we're getting tire her out as we explore the sites on foot.

This is one million Turkish Lira, these little babies come in much larger size bills as well. It takes about 5 million TL to get a normal taxsi ride.

Yesterday was Museum Day for us. We went to Haghia Sophia and Topkapi. But first we visited the Basilica Cistern, I think it is. It's a huge underground chamber held up by marble pillars, holding I can't remember how much water but first built in about the 4th Century. It burned down and was rebuilt several times. But it was the municipal water supply for many centuries. I thought about how my engineer friends back in the states would have enjoyed it and maybe even been able to explain it to me. Just a few years ago, someone tossed a few carp in the water and there are now schools of them swimming around merrily, so the crystal clear water must still be pretty good, although I don't know if anyone drinks it any longer. Cats are everywhere in Turkey, as we all know, here's one getting a free meal. Hey there's no food in those fingers.

Cats are everywhere in Turkey, as we all know, here's one getting a free meal. Hey there's no food in those fingers.

Haghia Sophia, built roughly the same time as the cistern, boasts the largest dome of the ancient world - 110 feet around, 220 feet above the floor. The building needs a lot of restoration but you can see what's left of some marvelous mosaics. I found the marble walls fascinating. They'd shave them into thin layers before they put them up, so adjacent slabs would have the same design, only in reverse. It made many walls look like an ancient Rorschach test. I spotted one wall where there were 10 slices of the same hunk of marble. I wonder how they did that. Topkapi is filled with opulent displays of the wealth of the Sultans. An emerald handled dagger caught my eye, as did huge, solid gold candle holders, bejeweled swords and scabbards, necklaces and pendants. One room had beard trimmings purported to be from Mohammed himself, and a couple rather large footprints of his. There seemed to be as many Turks playing tourist as there were foreigners. I'm still marveling at the young, conservative Turkish women wearing scarves everywhere and acting as flirtatious to their men as young women to everywhere. It's not something I remember from Ankara in the 1960s. The ones without scarves could walk down any street in the States and they'd fit right in with their tight pants and tops.

Have I mentioned this town is crawling with cats? No surprise, I guess. It's always been that way. Didn't Ataturk - the father of modern Turkey - say he was coming back as a cat? We had four at dinner with us the other night. Kind of like gulls at the beach, you break down and feed one and pretty soon every cat in the place is at your feet. The call to prayer woke me up again this morning, but it was a cat fight in the alley outside my window that kept me from going back to sleep. I talked with another Kurdish carpet salesman yesterday. He downplayed the tensions over here. He's from eastern Turkey and has an uncle in the Turkish Parliament. The uncle makes sure money goes back to the district he represents, the young man said. While the tensions were high at one time, he says life is much better in the eastern part of the country. Of course, he was trying to sell me a rug, too. He offered me cigarettes, tea and raki as we talked about carpets and Kurds. If you come to Istanbul and stay at the Ambassador Hotel, and I recommend you do, drop in and see Omar and Shariff down at the end of the alley. Great guys. Omar took me to his cousin who owns a jewelry shop near the Grand Bazaar. I couldn't find the gold Turkish puzzle ring in the style I wanted anywhere in the Bazaar, so I dropped a silver one off with his cousin. He says he'll use it as a model to make identical ones in gold. If all goes according to plan, I'll pick them up on my way back through Istanbul at the end of the month.

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