Amazingly, it’s been a year since we’ve worked on our “One Dress” project. But as the summer rolls in so does our journey. This year’s adventure is a bit off the beaten path with our end goal to visit our friend Sandy in Lebanon while our friend Ro house sits for us taking care of our fur child Munson.

Our first stop is Istanbul. On our bucket list since the beginning of the project, we are excited to finally be in position to cross it off our list.

After a lonnnnng day of flying, we landed in Istanbul and hopped a cab to our hotel. With less than three days to explore the 4^th largest city in the world, we amazingly ignored our fatigue and went scouting. Without pausing for even a shower, we ventured forth to the legendary Grand Bazaar. It was not nearly as chaotic as one imagines, however the constant parade of endless vendors attempting to snare you into their shops is tiring.

We had a goal in mind, to find a Turkish carpet store that would allow us to do a photo shoot. As we ambled down the lane of seemingly identical shops we were reminded quickly not to pause or the hard sell would begin. As we passed the Anatolian Carpet shop, we paused. It was the first shop to have any reasonable floor space and Ersin greeted us with a warm, broad smile. In contrast to the barks of shop keepers demanding your attention, Ersin gently, but firmly insisted “we must have a look.” My eyes, opened wide at a rather unique feature of the store, a hole in the ceiling for me to perch. Before the trip, I did the unthinkable. In my mind, in order to get the bird’s eye view I wanted for the photo, I did something I swore I would never do. I bought a selfie stick.

We listened to Ersin’s pitch which included a detailed lesson about the different types of carpets and baleens. A proud man of Kurdish descent, he highlighted the many styles and stories of the tapestries. Honestly, we felt a little guilty, because we really didn’t need a carpet and have had horrific luck with international shipping. We decided this was where we wanted to shoot and really enjoyed his energy. He was more than happy to help us and we agreed to come back first thing in the AM.  He could have easily lost our business, but unlike most sellers, he didn’t press and seemed confident we would return. Unlike most vendors when you walk out of their store, he didn’t drop the price or continue to haggle.

If we were prudent, we would have called it a successful reconnaissance and returned to the hotel. However, we knew there was an obscure Inn whose rooftop provided a great view of the cityscape. We weaved in and out of tiny streets, battling an ever increasingly intermittent GPS signal. As we narrowed in on the local, Jennifer was reaching her max. One street looked identical to the next. The GPS’ street names rarely matched the street signs and we got the feeling that the Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan was watching over us laughing. Was there a clue box just around the corner? Just as I thought we arrived, Jennifer scanned the block and nothing looked remotely like an Inn. However, I had watched a video online and may have omitted the detail of what dump the place was. We hesitantly walked forward, into the bowels of a dilapidated, dark musty building encouraged by the signs that indicated the rooftop café was just around the corner. With almost no artificial light, cracks in the roof or glasses windows provided minuscule ambient light as we reluctantly serpentine around the interior of the building. After an endless series of turns, we were greeting by a young lady with less of a command of English than Jennifer’s already growing Turkish vocabulary. Fortunately, she did know how to say one phrase. Unfortunately, it was “closed.” Clearly, the spot is now a “thing” and they were renovating it into more of a business. She did have a quaint little café with a view (or as Jennifer would describe it a room with two chairs and tea), but it wasn’t the right time of day. Exhausted and dehydrated (yes as seasoned travelers we managed to walk out without water) we headed back to the hotel. Or so we thought. The GPS was useless and while my navigational skills were flawless on the way out I didn’t have the heart to tell Jennifer we were not getting any closer to the hotel. Jennifer, sensed my confusion and was less than happy with the predicament. As we started to get our baring we learned that in addition to the traffic lights merely being a suggestion, physical contact between tightly spaced cars was not taboo. When one car clearly wouldn’t fit between two others, the driver was encouraged to squeeze through regardless of the bumpers grinding against each other. Eventually, we made it back to the hotel and collapsed. Hopping on email, we had an encouraging response from a gentleman from the Basilica Cistern where we wanted to get a photograph. However, we knew without official approval we couldn’t take a wedding dress photo there. Ali, responded that he was happy to help and would meet us the next day at noon. Thanks go to Momma Derow for suggesting the venue, because it wouldn’t have been on our list.

You’d think that we’d fall asleep quickly and recover. You would be wrong. We usually don’t stay in upscale places, but without knowing what to expect from the big city, and to be honest we were a little intimidated by Istanbul, we decided to stay in the Crown Plaza which was well situated to the sites we wanted to visit. Sadly, it was the noisiest room we’ve ever stayed in. The “block the box” game went on until 2 AM. For those of you who haven’t lived in a big city, it’s where everybody inches into the intersection and then blares their horn as if the sound waves will magical push the cars out of the way (Happily, they switched our room to a more interior room that was indeed much quieter).

While I passed out around 2:30, Jennifer suffered through the cacophony all night. We headed to a little breakfast and out the door to visit our friend Ersin. Pleasantly, he didn’t start the sell, but instead enthusiastically helped us with our photo shoot. As I was moving carpets around with him, I noticed the perfect solution to our purchasing dilemma. There were small, woven wool pillowcase for sale.

After we finished the shoot, we explained we were interested in the pillow cases. Sadly, the one we were initially drawn to came from a neighbor’s shop. Esrin was happy to send us there, but we wanted to purchase from him, so he pulled a “few” from the back. There were plenty of intriguing design. We found two that were perfect. Normally, we would haggle to a great extent, but we were comfortable just giving him his asking price, because his time was worth more. If you visit Istanbul check Esrin out at www.anatoliancarpet.com.

Next, we headed to the Basilica Cistern and met Ali. We immediately, found a friend. Warm and charismatic, Ali greeted us and introduced us to numerous people around the ticket line. He directed us past the lengthy line and as we navigated into the Cistern he educated us that while this was the more popular Cistern there was a better choice. Dark, musty and overcrowded, there was an allure to the Byzantine columns. Normally you cannot use a tripod, which is required to get any kind of reasonable exposure, but to add Jennifer to the photo would have been incredibly difficult.

Ali, said we could come back here if we wanted, but assured us his choice of the newly renovated Serefiye Cistern would be more impressive. How many times have we be detoured to the perfect place and it turns out to be disappointing. This was not one of those times. Serefiye was unimaginably gorgeous, well-lit and decorated with a travel sculpture exhibit. We were greeted by the manager, who invited us to come back at 7PM when it closed and have a private photo op.

Ali then took us on the local’s tour, highlighting an endless stomach-filling pleasant barrage of not so diet-friendly delights including a local bean dish that we will have to try to duplicate when we are stateside. What we can’t duplicate was the Turkish version of tres-leches and a dish that was a cross between yogurt and pudding in a place that has been serving it for well over 100 years.

In the evening we went back to the Cistern and prepared for our shoot. The guard who didn’t speak much in English made up for it in helpful gestures from giving us small water boxes, providing a flashlight when I struggled, and plastic bags to repack made the shoot effortless. The actual shoot was less than twenty minutes and we were happy with the results.

Our day didn’t end there though. Having given up on the rooftop Inn, we were trying to figure out a time to get a photo from the Seven Hills Restaurant. Since it was only a few minute walk from the Cistern, we headed there next. Jennifer asked if I knew how the food was and honestly, I didn’t even think to ask. I just knew it had great views of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, and they were right. We planted ourselves by the corner with the best vantage point for the Blue Mosque.

We struggled if that was the correct choice because there was scaffolding on the Mosque. Mustafa, our waiter, encouraged me to switch. He also didn’t understand that we could after sunset so I didn’t know if I should trust his recommendation. As the moment of perfect light approached, I decided he was correct and we quickly pivoted to the other side of the restaurant. It was difficult to get all four minarets and Jennifer in any position other than dead center in the shot. This was exacerbated by the woman at the table next to us that kept pushing her seat back into the shot. Then as we were at peak blueness, she got up to get her own shot right in the middle of ours. In the end, here’s the shot we liked.

As it turned out the food was fantastic, one of the best pieces of fish we’ve ever had. With one day left in Istanbul, we plan to relax, meet up with Ali again for lunch and regroup for our next country, Serbia!