Monday, August 10, 2009

Goodbye Istanbul...

Who would of thought from Day 1 in Istanbul where I was a fish out of water that this crazy city would become such a fun adventure. For my last week in Istanbul we enjoyed all my favorite foods- one last fish sandwich under the bridge, one last iskender kebab, one last apple tea and desserts- one last waffle, one last magnum, one last ice cream. It has been a delicious summer. We took a boat tour around the Bosphorus, had a rabbit tell my fortune, watched the whirling dervishes, checked out the spice bazar, took pictures of the kitties, met some famous people at a news station, and of course did that "I really want to buy this but I'm not going to until I break down the last week I'm here shopping." What a bunch of crazy memories we have of this summer spending every day every moment with eachother- a few tears and breakdowns, lots of laughter, new places, new foods, making new friends, and through it all growing closer together.



Istanbul Memories

"Swimming upstream"... cat counting game... "fish, fish!", "negative 2 points"... "sidewalk issues"... "a wandering Mary"... "I insist"... Brad's favorite cornerstore nicknamed "my guy"... Brad's pink towel... channel surfing 400 channels - "Please let it be in English! Please let it be in English - No!"... watching Italian movies like we really know what they are talking about... "heat issues"... filling up the water bottles... the Bonjour Guy... "Is that the call to prayer?" - "no, some guy selling something" - "Is that the call to prayer" - "no, another guy selling something"... John the Irish man... John the Irish man hiding from the cleaning lady in our apartment... our Boston friends... Greed... "Hit the deck with a 4" - "Ha, penalty, penalty" - card fight... visit to a news station - "blah, blah, project, job, blah" - "What was that?" - "I have no idea"... Brad's sharing issues... mmm, the chocolate shop... signing advertisements - "la, la, la duru," "Aycam" - "I wonder if they ever going insane listening to that all day"... shopping, shopping, shopping... Frog Juice, "you always get that card! Aargh!"... "I don't know how you do it - but you play uno and hearts dirty" - "Well you play backgammon dirty"... "I can't have that spaghetti anymore, not after Italy"... "Something is gonna get thrown down!" - the hairspray fight... "Every cat that fights should have a bucket of water dumped on them"... "It seems like new stores are here each day"... mmm, Ciya... mmm, Mado's chocolate raspberry gateau... mmm Magnums... mmm, waffles... Brad's theory of the traveling noisy kids... No Hulu, no YouTube - The Daily Show and Media Matters our only entertainment... Best priced restaurant with great atmosphere nicknamed "our place"... "The guy who invented air conditioning was a genius, seriously he should have been given the Nobel Prize"... "Sharing is overrated!" - "No, sharing is romantic, you're overrated"... "There's no punching!"... "no fixing"... "use your Mary leap"... "we're having a sink crisis"... "Hold on let's get rid of some crap change"... the SkipBo game that eliminated the word weiner from Brad's vocabulary.

We will laugh and laugh!

6 comments:

A said...

Ha ha ha ha ha ha you guys are hilarious. Miss you lots and you get home tomorrow! Hope Brad will have an enjoyable stay in Istanbul without you.

Till then.

Heather said...

Looks like you have had SOOOOO much fun over there! We can't wait to hear all about it when you get back. Oh and I posted a pic of Rylee in your dress for ya...go check it out! Welcome back!

paxtonfam said...

You had a dream summer. Now back to the harsh reality of work. See you tomorrow at our meeting!

Marci said...

Mary I'm glad you had fun on your trip...but I'm also glad you are back! I've missed you! I hope we can finally get in tough with each other on the phone sometime soon instead of paying this phone tag! Love ya!

blair and maisy said...

Too bad it's over- but you guys have made amazing memories that you'll always remember! I agree with your that Magnum ice cream bars are to die for! (You can find them in Mexico too).

Emmy Z. said...

I'm glad I found your blog!

I'm sorry I missed you when you came home and called me. I was with my in-laws that weekend, and they had us booked solid from morning 'till night. On top of that, my phone died. I thought I'd heard that you weren't coming home until the 18th - otherwise I would have planned stuff around my in-laws earlier. Send me an email and let me know how things are going! (emily.c.bunker@gmail.com)