NOTE — Over the next two weeks Qmuze will be coming to you from Turkey and Israel. I will be tweaking the Qmuze model of politics, culture, and entertainment by commenting on what I saw, what I thought, and what I wore. Grab your passport and stay tuned! (I apologize in advance for any spelling or other errors — this will be fast and furious.)

Day 1 –ISTANBUL

I have such fascination with Turkey: physically, politically, and culturally, it’s where east meets west. The city of Istanbul is on two continents — Asia and Europe, and it seems to have captured the best of both worlds — exotic, yet hip. From the sultans of the Ottoman Empire to modern day politicians, Turkey continues to play an important role in world politics. A Muslim country with a western-style secular democracy, Turkey is the would be model for the “Arab Spring.”  In the market women in headscarves shop next to women in tight-fitting jeans and t-shirts, both equally comfortable with their lifestyle and seemingly tolerant of the other.

We left San Francisco at 2pm on Friday afternoon, flew to Frankfurt, Germany and then on to Istanbul, arriving at 4pm Saturday afternoon Istanbul time. It’s not the mind-numbing travel time to Southern Africa or the Far East —  just a mere ten hours to Frankfurt and another four to Istanbul. Still, to sit on my terrace overlooking the Bosphorus and think about how far I am from home makes me dizzy. That being said, at dinner tonight (the hotel’s Aqua because we are travel weary!) we looked up and  friends from San Francisco were sitting at the next table! Yes, it is a small world. We are at the Four Seasons Bosphorus — it’s beautiful and the service is excellent.

What I wore you ask? For the trip over a pair of black J. Crew stretch pants that zip up the back (comfortable but not sloppy), a long sleeve white t-shirt, a very cool army-style lightweight jacket with a bit of a metallic sheen to it (Gap), gold sandals with a tiny heel (I can walk for miles in these shoes!), a cotton scarf for some pizazz and because it’s cozy for over-nighting on a plane, and a very cool Balenciaga purse (my splurge!) that I featured a few posts back. For dinner which was al fresco by the Bosphorus, I wore a black lace over white cotton dress with flat silver sandals and took a lightweight cotton sweater. Packing is an art form; especially when you are limited to forty-four pounds — Turkish Airways intra-country weight limit that I’m hoping they aren’t too serious about:)