Food and Fighting

Today was begun with a another late start. Even though I had fallen asleep around midnight, I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed until 2:00 pm. Walker and I went out for food. We stopped at Simit Sarayı one of a chain of internet cafes that has fresh-baked pastries, some sweet, some filled with feta cheese or stewed veggies. Then we walked across the street to get portakal suyu (orange juice), delicious and freshly squeezed.

After that we walked down Iştiklal, looking for a place to eat a meal. Iştiklal is a pedestrian-only street and always very packed with people. Every now and then a side street crosses Iştiklal, going out to the roads that do have traffic. As we were walking up to one of these side street crossings, we heard commotion coming from down the side street on the right. All of a sudden a mob of many teenagers/twenty-somethings came running out onto Iştiklal. We and everyone walking around us stopped dead in our tracks. There was noise of glass shattering and I saw the neck of a green glass bottle fly in the air. Walker and I quickly turned around and walked back up Iştiklal the way we had come from as police sirens started going off (there had been a police truck at that crossing, which may have been the target of the mob's rush). A little ways up the street everyone looked like they were going on about business as usual and we could no longer hear the commotion. I'm not sure what had gone on there. Just a gang of teens protesting the police or running away from a crime scene, perhaps.

We turned down a side street a little ways away, still hungry for a meal, and were beckoned into a restaurant by a man holding the menu. The food looked good and reasonably -priced and the menu was in English as well as Turkish, so we headed inside. We were taken to a tiny back room on the upper floor that had four tables and a alcoholic drink-prep area. The other three small tables were occupied by three other couples, cuddled up next to each other. One of them sucking on a hookah; I had thought I'd seen a sign for nargile outside. Upon realizing we had never gone to the ATM and only had 35 liras between us, we ordered based on cost. Walker got chicken and mushrooms and I got chicken şiş kebap. The chicken was good and served with french fries, grilled tomatoes and peppers and shredded lettuce. It was awkward sitting in the tiny room with the other couples, mostly our age, hugging and kissing each other constantly. I read somewhere that young couples usually find a secluded spot in a restaurant to spend time together because public affection is frowned upon here and I assume many households have strict rules for boys visiting girls. After asking for the hesap (check) we left and came back to the apartment, both feeling tired from breathing in the nargile smoke in the room.

This week Walker and I plan to join a few others in our group who are taking an overnight train to Thessaloniki, Greece to spend a few days touring. We can leave from İstanbul's train station at 8:00pm and arrive in Thessaloniki at 8:00am the next morning.

Not sure what tomorrow holds yet, but that's all for tonight. I'm going to try to get to bed early.