August 27, 2011
Once again I have passed through Istanbul and once I again I have been incredibly sick in that city for about eight hours. I’m not saying that the city seems to have it out for me, I’m just pointing out coincidences. And it’s a shame really; it’s such a wonderful city…
Anyway, the Azamara Quest set sail at 7:00 PM and for the past few hours I have been admiring the Bosporus and it’s beautiful scenery. That includes man made scenery too, the bridges here are wonderfully elegant. For whatever reason, I really appreciate bridges that haven’t been beaten to death with modern styling.
Another thing I’ve been admiring is the prevalence of the Turkish flag. I genuinely admire tactful patriotism (something we Americans could learn to embrace) and I really think the Turks have it down. Now I know nothing about Turkish politics (if you know anything please share it in the comments), so the Turks themselves might think the “flag every other hill” phenomenon is tacky; but I really like it.
I also love the architecture. The houses along the stretch of the Bosporus we have passed through have been charming and gorgeous. I always think its interesting to see modern architecture/buildings surrounding ruins and I got a really nice taste of that on our sail today. The buildings along our route so far have encompassed ancient ruins, classically inspired mansions (I don’t actually know what purpose those buildings serve in truth, but I would love to live in one), and modern towns. Admittedly, I’d love a place here; somewhere to which to escape in the winters with that same fantastic architecture I’ve been admiring throughout the sail so far. Although I do wonder what the residents must think of all the boats passing by their houses on such a regular basis. Sure some of the river traffic is unobtrusive, but the Azamara Quest holds about 700 guests (I know, its huge). That must be slightly disruptive…
And so, dear reader, I leave you until tomorrow when I will be visiting Bulgaria. Until then, photos of the architecture along the Bosporus:
No comments:
Post a Comment