Istanbul, Part I

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving in Istanbul, Turkey (insert pun about Turkey day in Turkey). We are, however, self-conscious about giving a summary of all of the basic touristy things that we did. So to avoid being shamelessly cliche, we divided the trip into two parts. Part I is our most basic impressions of this fantastic city. Part II, for our close family and friends who won't be too bored, is a slide show of all of the things that we saw and did.

Part I

We noticed two obvious things about Turkey -- the Turks love pictures of Ataturk and their Turkish flag.

Kemal Ataturk is the George Washington of the modern state of Turkey. An officer in Ottoman Army during World War I, Ataturk led the independence movement in the early 1920's against the Greeks, the British, and the French and ultimately deposed the Ottoman Sultan. Once he became the president of the new Republic of Turkey, Ataturk was an uncompromising reformer/westernizer.

His picture hangs everywhere...

He's one of the first Turks to greet you when you get off the plane...

He stares at you while you wait for a table in a restaurant...

He's on the sidewalk as you pass by...

He even invites you to sit on his lap...

There seem to be two schools of thought about Ataturk's omnipresence. One Turk explained that his picture hanging everywhere is just a tradition that people don't pay much attention to. This version sees Ataturk almost as a mascot, maybe even an inside joke for Turks. The other school of thought takes Ataturk much, much more seriously. As one local said, "Ataturk was sent by God to save us."

The other most striking thing about Turkey is the presence of Turkish flags.

Exhibit A, the view from our hotel room.

Practically every store, restaurant, and even every boat had a Turkish flag hanging somewhere.

Then there were the striking, gigantic, imposing Turkish flags that you could see from miles away. We saw dozens like this one. If you think Americans are infatuated with the Stars & Stripes, you should go to Turkey.