Bosporus

Sitting here now on the 14th floor of the Conrad in Istanbul. Decadence pure. An hour ago I was outside of the Blue Mosque as the final call to pray was issued, watching the masses enter through the wide entrance - some having washed their feet at the many seats along the outside walls. It was off limits for the rest as it was prayer and they closed for the day but we were told how nice it was inside.

From 2010-05

I am here with a client based in the UAE who is on a visit of some of our customers. They are from different countries; Egypt, Iran etc but all this really does not matter. We were talking about the good fish in New Orleans (one had traveled there) and how the Celtics would take the title this year, and how Blackberry’s are the most popular cell phone in the Emirates (free texting). There were eight of us at dinner today, possibly no 2 from the same country. We enjoy a wonderful mix of appetizers which included some tasty eggplant mouse and others then followed by the “meat platter”: chicken, lamb, kebab and more probably which I did not identify. All this accompanied by fresh milk and tea afterwards.

From 2010-05

The only thing which made us different at the table was that two of our guests from the UAE had coats on as it was cold sitting outside. The rest had dropped their coats and enjoyed the warm evening. At least warm for those not coming from 40°C+ temperatures.So, here I am now 11pm and the sun has long set looking out the window of this very nice hotel at the waterway which plays such an important role here across at a different continent. I arrived this afternoon and am flying out just 25 hours later, so these fleeting memories will just have to be reminded by this blog.