Conviviendo in Turkey

The best travel experiences in our lives have been the ones with friends. From packing a house to the brim in Tahoe and hot-tubbing in the snow, to greeting bears on the campsites of Yosemite and dancing the nights away in India — friendtravel has a magic that is hard to replace. And so, we knew from the get-go that we would miss our friends A LOT during our travels.

That is why we had been sooooo looking forward to Istanbul — where Sara and Giovanni and their girls decided to join us for some “Conviviendo” magic. Sara and Giovanni are one of our inspirations for this year of travel. And, they also happened to have introduced the concept of “Conviviendo” — living and existing together -- into our life back in the bay area, where we would hang outdoors with friends on sunny weekends with no aim but to be together.

We had been waiting for our Conviviendo for months. We rented an apartment in Sultanahmet (on the European side) that would fit us all. We visualized the hanging out, talking and boardgaming. And, finally, at the end October — they arrived! The adults were grinning ear to ear, and the girls just went nuts! Our three room apartment could barely contain the energy of their joy.

Note: While most of the photos in this post are ours, I occasionally use Giovanni and Sara’s pictures as well.

The obligatory sightseeing

On our first full day, we decided to get most of the touristing out of the way at once, so we could just peacefully hang out the rest of the time. Although we started after lunch, we managed to hit four mosques, some local restaurants and the Basilica cistern in one day. We also had fun watching the kids get teased by the Turkish ice cream vendors. Are we evil? Maybe?

Hanging in Sultanahmet

Most of our four days together, though, we spent roaming around in Sultanahmet - our hood, with its narrow streets, homey restaurants, and epic pomegranate juice stands.

It turns out, half a day can disappear before you notice between a late Turkish breakfast and jumping around on a fabulous playground on the waterfront

Arch Bistro - an ancient boat house built by the Romans when this was early Constantinople and the city was smaller. Later on, it was expanded with landfill and the boat house became a normal house within the city’s protective walls. It’s a really cool place with a kind owner who made our girls bracelets while we ate. It also has delicious food!

And the rest can be spent walking around the narrow streets of old town Sultanahmet and playing , where we discovered little treasures on every block. We were particularly blown away by a large block covered entirely with fantastic murals

In true spirit of Conviviendo we also did a lot of… well… not much! We played games, read, talked, ate, and just enjoyed each other’s company. We wondered about the future and reminisced about the past… all with a blissful cup of Turkish apple tea, black tea or Salep (made from Orchids)

One of the marks of a great friendship is that you do not need to do something new and exciting all the time to take pleasure in each other’s company. Yet, if you do end up doing something new and exciting — you can double the joy by doing it with your friends! And so the next day after our day Conviviendo chilling, we introduced some activities to the list.

Karaköy Day

Masha, for one, couldn’t resist an arts and crafts activity to make a memory with the girls. Hence, a Turkish lamp-making class was booked on AirBnB experiences. Turkish lamps are easily recognizable and absolutely beautiful with their vivid bright designs and magical glow. I was enamored with them ever since we saw the first one in Goreme.

We walked up the windy streets towards Galata tower to discover the little studio filled with pieces of colorful glass, and then spent two hours designing our masterpieces and making them come to life.

It was a really meditative experience as you had to have the patience to first design your lamp on the table, and then move each piece of the puzzle to a glue covered glass orb, painstakingly rearranging it all. As a last step, you got to fill in all the empty space on the lamp with your preferred color of little beads. We all really loved the experience.

We also ate a LOT of Turkish delights. They were delightful! :)

And while the ladies worked on their lamps, Giovanni and Mike went to explore the Grand Bazaar, and haggle a bit. Everyone got a cultural experience of their choice

Balik Ekmek @ Galata Bridge

Since the lamp class was in Karaköy, where we hadn’t ventured yet, we decided to combine the class with a leisurely exploration of Galata bridge — the fish sandwiches (balik ekmek) and the real reason Giovanni flew to Turkey! Having first tried them ten years earlier on their world trip, the memory possessed him. Like Rick and his Szechuan sauce, even if it’d take him ten seasons years, he would finally have it!

The traditional place to buy the Balik Ekmek (that are available all over Istanbul and Galata Bridge especially) is from one of the boats next to the Galata Bridge. On a sunny day, this is a fantastic place to stroll and see the views of Istanbul and its bodies of water and the many many fishermen trying to catch something from the bridge.

As a side note, the only things they were catching were tiny little sardine like fish and we spent a bit of time trying to figure out what they do with it. Our best guess is that they feed the many animals that freely roam the city. The cats and dogs are everywhere and friendly, as the government and people of Istanbul sponsor their care and feeding.

Back to Balik-Ekmek, after several U-turns on the bridge and some unhappy and hungry children, we found the boats!

Turns out this is the very same one Sara and Giovanni bought the sandwiches from on their prior trip! And after buying some sandwiches — and nearby grilled corn which I devoured religiously, and an eventful lime juice drenching that poor Aria endured, food was eaten and all was right with the world!

Halloween!

And on our last day in Istanbul, we decided to have Halloween! It was only a few days before the real thing, and the girls were excited to celebrate one of their favorite holidays together. They planned the entire day around it, and spent days preparing. The program consisted of a dress-up party - (see some princesses and Zoro below)

And continued with readings of a story that they had spent the last few days writing

After this, we held a costume modeling parade. And finally, we played games — a “hide-and-seek” candy hunt with candies Masha hid all over the apartment AND a “pin the tail on the donkey” variation. Tons of fun!

Looking back, it’s kind of surprising that the last day of our stay was pretty much entirely consumed by Halloween and the 100 year celebration in the evening. And speaking of that…

100 years of the Republic of Turkey celebration

It turned out, quite serendipitously, that we were in Istanbul on the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkiye. The planned celebrations were not as huge as they could have been (which could be explained by the current political climate in the country). However, the official program did consist of a long parade of military vessels heading into the Bosphorus, fireworks above the Bosphorus bridge, and a large drone light show over the water to top it all off.

We walked from our apartment down to the water, and followed the boardwalk toward the center of old town for about 30 minutes. We found a lovely outcropping of rocks to sit on and watch the show, amongst the many Turkish people already chilling there.

A lot of people wanted to go somewhere to celebrate that night. But, instead, they ended up celebrating (or being very annoyed and wondering how to get to a restroom) in their cars for hours… as the traffic was literally standstill. People blasted music from their windows, and in many cases got out of the cars and danced waving Turkish flags.

Having watched the fireworks, we headed back — keenly aware of the waning patience of our kids and their ability to walk back home. Cars were not an option. Later, we watched the drone show on a Youtube video and wondered what the celebrations would have been like if the country had really wanted to go “all out”…

Both the Conviviendo and Istanbul left us wanting more. One day we’ll be back to experience the vibrant spirit of the city again, and to hang out in its cafes… soaking in the energy around us. And we’ll definitely miss our friends! Until the next trip -- can’t wait!