The measure of a journey

Outside Magazine founder Tim Cahill wrote "A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles." We have been asked a few times how we chose the meandering path from Europe's upper northwest end to its far southeastern reaches.  The answer is that we enjoy traveling to and with our friends, and every city has brought us not just new sights (and foods!), but experiences through the eyes and wisdom of our friends.  They enriched our journey, for which we are immeasurably grateful.

At the hump of this 6-week journey, the girls declared that they were not homesick yet.  Along the way, we had Skyped with the Dad and kept in email-touch with our friend Susanne who is caring for our house and Noodle the Turtle.  Sophie even had a cross-continental video chat with her friend Simone - an Istanbul to Orcas Island connection!  (Whatever happened to vacation postcards?)  Technology plus friends and family in our company have kept the comforts of home close.

In Istanbul, we were lucky to hang out with two local friends.  Ed met Kaan at a venture conference back home.  Kaan has been dedicating his time, energy and creativity to Atdaa (www.atdaa.com), a crowd-sourced guide to Istanbul.  Check it out!  With all his expertise, Kaan was the perfect and perfectly fun guide through locals' Istanbul.

We LOVED the art exhibition at Borusan Music House called "Revolution Revelation."  The temporary exhibit was created by musician/DJ Arkin and painter Carlito Dalceggio.  It is six floors of exuberant craziness, including a 4 meter statue of Buddha!

Free spirit children

Free spirit artists

To help visitors get in touch with their spiritual side, the artists set up a groovy couch with a direct line to Rumi, the 13th century Persian poet, jurist, theologian and Sufi mystic.  We tried calling, but couldn't understand the wisdom coming through the receiver.

Calling Rumi

It's hard to put everything we did with Kaan into one post, but suffice it to say that it was an awesome day and ended with a beautiful dinner right on the Bospherous River with fireworks!  Here are more pics from the day.  Thanks, Kaan!

Gangsta Istanbul

We also spent an afternoon with Yucel, a fabulous CS professor in Istanbul, who walked us through his neighborhood in the very hip Cíhangír district filled with cool cafés and tantalizing antique stores.  But Yucel really honored us by taking  us to his friend's restaurant - she opened just for us! - and treating us to the most delicious and authentic Turkish meal.  We enjoyed making new friends and hope to visit again soon.

Special lunch with Yucel and his friends

Of course, we would be lying if we didn't say that sometimes we missed our friends from home...and air conditioning...and pools.  That's why it was an extra special treat to spend the last couple of nights in a luxurious hotel with a/c and a pool and hamburgers on the menu.  Daphne and Molly came over to revel in the pool, too, which made it extra fun.  What's not to love?

If we measure our journey by the old and new friends around us, we can already declare it a success. And we're only half way through!