Beykoz and Bayram

I think from now on, this is going to be a monthly diary. (if that makes any sense!) Since I spend a ridiculous time in front of the computer during the week, it is hard to sit down and write and mess with photos in front of this thing on the weekends. This week is Kurban Bayram. Kurban means "sacrifice" or "victim". I learned this because there is a band called Kurban who I saw during the summer. This week, however, kurban does not refer to the band but rather the vast number of sheep who must (unwillingly) take part in this holiday. I saw the heads of several today jauntily perched in a neat row in front of a döner shop. Each had a tomato and a long green pepper festivly arranged in his mouth. Thursday was the main holiday. People were shooting guns and firecrackers all day. This might have been because Istanbul's favorite soccer team, Galatasaray was playing.

A couple weeks ago, the weather was nice so Roshan and I took a boat to Asia. We got off at Uskudar and then took a bus up the packed coast road to Beykoz. We decided on Beykoz because I hadn't been there and Roshan said there was someplace we could sit and drink Turkish coffee. There are a lot of interesting houses and palaces on the Asian coast road. I know this because I am spending most of my time doing the layout for a book about all the interesting sites on the Bosphorus. Unfortunately, you can't really see them from the road because they all face the water. After being on the bus for about 45 minutes we reached a hill where traffic was moving particularly slowly. Roshan said Beykoz was at the bottom of the hill so we decided to walk. Actually, Pasabahçe was at the bottom of the hill and Beykoz was about an hours walk further. Pasabahce is famous for the Pasabahçe crystal factory. We asked if they offered tours (since I like watching how glass is blown). They said we needed to have a group and send the director of the factory a letter stating why we wanted to see glass being made. Instead, we found a pastry shop and bought a couple boreks which we ate on the water front. There was a cafe full of little old men. I think Pasabahçe must be where Istanbullites go when they get old. Although it was a peaceful area, we decided to walk to Beykoz. There Beykoz turned out not to be the most exciting of destinations. I didn't see any cafes that called out to me. But the walk along the water to get there was pleasant. We caught a boat back to Europe and got home right as the cold wave from the Balkans hit, dumping rain and snow onto Istanbul.