Omar fistik

Fistik means Peanut in Turkish, (not pronounced fishstick but feshstook.)

Figure 1. To quote Sarah, "Between every two mosques, there is another mosque"

Omar turned 8 months in Istanbul, crossing from Europe to Asia in 4 minutes under the sea via the Marmaray! Alhamdulillah our first trip as a family with Omar went well. He is a trooper, good humored traveler, and quite the people magnet masyaAllah. He probably interacted with more locals than me and Ikram combined! All via the international language of peek-a-boos and funny sounds. They said that Istanbul is an old city with many mosques, but I only grasped how many "many" meant. Think 7-eleven many. (Figure 1)

Of course though Omar is a trooper, he is still a baby. And traveling with baby meant nursing and diaper changes at set intervals, sometimes at places slightly unorthodox (Figure 2). Alhamdulillah, we got through it all with fairly little drama.

Figure 2. After a diaper change in the open air of Topkapi Palace courtyard.

My last travels were last year to Auckland, Beijing and Seattle while I was pregnant-- Auckland being the true holiday trip. Istanbul being my first trip post delivery and as a mommy, I felt for the first time the post-flight fatigue that I usually don't succumb to. Jetlag also came back after I gained immunity for a couple of years, learning the art of sleeping on a flight. Well, sleeping on a flight with a baby is pretty rough, add to that a bloated tummy and lack of veggies from the kebap-driven menus.

Figure 3. Getting over some fear of heights on the intact Theodosian Wall bordering the old city.

My tolerance for large crowds have always been low, but for the first time, I found myself getting pretty bored pretty fast, despite the great beauty and history before me. Finally on Sunday, the last day there, I actually felt like my old self again, partly because we had found treasures that were not tourist infested, like the Theodosian Walls  (Figure 3) and my friend Busra took us to a restaurant that served food more typical of the kind you get in a Turkish home i.e. more veggies!! Also awesome dessert nyam (Figures 4a,b,c)

Figure 4a. Spinach, leeks and other veggies galore!

Figure 4b. Baked rice pudding goodness

Figure 4c. Iva with milk curd

Finally the day ended with a walk along the Bosphorus in Uskudar, and sitting down for a kahve and chai among the other folk looking for a lovely spot to shoot the breeze. (Figure 5)

Figure 5. Chilling out with Busra on the banks of Uskudar facing the European side of the Bosphorus, with Kiz Kulesi (Maiden Tower) in the background.

We went to Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Princes Island and all the other usual spots but I think there are plenty of those pics in other places already... she says not snootily at all!!