Where to next as the airport burns?
Yesterday morning while a few of us were taking a break in the lazy man's corner (by the water cooler), Mustafa mentioned that his wife was out of town and that he wanted to get a few beers. Never hesitant to visit bars in other countries, I warmly welcomed the invitation.
Near the end of the day, Cemal said he would come to, so we walked from work to Taksim for, of course, "just one beer". On a sidenote, Cemal is a character. He is the system administrator for Basak, and yesterday during our English conversation he taught me the basics of system and database administration. He prides himself on the fact that he controls when people can use the internet. He is also from the Black Sea, and according to Mustafa, Black Sea peoples have a distinct nose with eyes close together. For the most part, he's exactly right. Cemal told me a bit about his family and his hometown, and after his broken explanation, it truly sounds like he is Turkish mafia. His town is known for mafia activity and for everyone owning a gun. After last night, in which he smoked 3 packs of cigarettes in one evening, I wouldn't put it past him. Regardless of his remotely sketchy background, he's extremely smart and very nice.
So first we went for food, and they ordered me the popular Turkish dish, Iskander. This stuff is amazing. It's bread with tomato sauce and yogurt, completely covered in meat. It's glorious.
After dinner, we headed to "Beer street." Yes, this place is amazing as it sounds. Pub after Pub after Pub. Although they only serve one type of beer, each place has its own feeling. I explained the concept of bar-hopping to Mustafa and Cemal, and told them how funny it was that in theory you could actually hop to bars on beer street. They are like townhouses, and it only takes a small step to enter another bar. Liking the idea, we began to hop to a few different bars.
Well, after "one beer" at beer street, we ended up bar hopping from beer street to Araf, a 6th floor bar overlooking the interior of Istanbul, then to French street for some fries and wine, then to Barci, where there was some sort of karaoke going on, but fortunately every singer sounded like a pop artist.
I got home at 11:30 PM, and after a long walk home, even that amount of bar-hopping didn't do me in. I was pretty proud.
I got into work this morning and checked the news: "Wednesday evening, Istanbul airport engulfed in flames."
Me: "What???"
Near the end of the day, Cemal said he would come to, so we walked from work to Taksim for, of course, "just one beer". On a sidenote, Cemal is a character. He is the system administrator for Basak, and yesterday during our English conversation he taught me the basics of system and database administration. He prides himself on the fact that he controls when people can use the internet. He is also from the Black Sea, and according to Mustafa, Black Sea peoples have a distinct nose with eyes close together. For the most part, he's exactly right. Cemal told me a bit about his family and his hometown, and after his broken explanation, it truly sounds like he is Turkish mafia. His town is known for mafia activity and for everyone owning a gun. After last night, in which he smoked 3 packs of cigarettes in one evening, I wouldn't put it past him. Regardless of his remotely sketchy background, he's extremely smart and very nice.
So first we went for food, and they ordered me the popular Turkish dish, Iskander. This stuff is amazing. It's bread with tomato sauce and yogurt, completely covered in meat. It's glorious.
After dinner, we headed to "Beer street." Yes, this place is amazing as it sounds. Pub after Pub after Pub. Although they only serve one type of beer, each place has its own feeling. I explained the concept of bar-hopping to Mustafa and Cemal, and told them how funny it was that in theory you could actually hop to bars on beer street. They are like townhouses, and it only takes a small step to enter another bar. Liking the idea, we began to hop to a few different bars.
Well, after "one beer" at beer street, we ended up bar hopping from beer street to Araf, a 6th floor bar overlooking the interior of Istanbul, then to French street for some fries and wine, then to Barci, where there was some sort of karaoke going on, but fortunately every singer sounded like a pop artist.
I got home at 11:30 PM, and after a long walk home, even that amount of bar-hopping didn't do me in. I was pretty proud.
I got into work this morning and checked the news: "Wednesday evening, Istanbul airport engulfed in flames."
Me: "What???"
posted by amartin4 at 11:35 PM
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