Monday, September 16, 2013

Yıldız Park Bridal Beauty

An exquisitely dressed bride
smiles on her way to her photo shoot
Every weekend in Yıldız Park in Beşiktaş, brides come to have their photos taken amidst the greenery of the park. It is so fun to see the variety of head coverings and dresses. This bride's beauty stopped me cold.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Istanbul finds out today if it will host the 2020 Olympics

Istanbul's promotional video
for the 2020 Olympics
Today the citizens of Turkey find out if their Olympic bid for the 2020 Olympics will be awarded to them. I wish all Turkish citizens "Iyi şanslar!" on their bid. Turkey would be the first Muslim country to ever be awarded the Olympic Games. As a country with a young, growing population, it would be a terrific fit. Yes, there would be all kinds of problems to be solved, such as smooth traffic flow, but I believe Turkey is up to the task!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Five Minutes of Magic

I saw the man first.
He was in a long royal purple tunic with white pants.
A cult member, surely, I thought.

Then I rounded the corner
and saw another man in the same dress.
Ha! A cult convention.

Then I came up against the limits of my knowledge.
It couldn't be a cult.
There were so many of them.
Not just men. Whole families.
And so many beautiful women.
 
 Her sandals.
Those "I Dream of Jeannie" sandals!
 
Happy.
Joyous.
Crackling with energy.

I laughed at myself, recognizing my own American parochialness.
Don't we always compare new information to our old information?
I understood instantly these were a people I had never seen or met before.
One
exquisitely dressed woman
after another
poured out of the hotel.
"Where are you from?" I asked.
"Pakistan, he said. "We are here for a wedding."

The island of Jamaica
sent spectacular sunshine.
"Are you from Pakistan too?"
I asked a gorgeous young woman
dressed differently than the others.
"No, I'm from Jamaica." she said.

"Of course you are!" I thought,
marveling at Istanbul's constant ability
to make the ordinary encounter extraordinary.
I'm sure Jamaicans at Pakistani weddings are a common sight,
don't you think?
Do they have ring bearers
at Pakistani weddings?
I wondered.
A tween
in all of her finery.
I'll picture these lovely people
when I read a story about Pakistan
in the future.
 
I'll picture this little girl
in all of her bracelets
and veils.
The beautiful Pakistani women
blew me kisses
from the bus
as they left.
 
I hope they had a wonderful time.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The Woman in White

Twilight beckons on the Bosphorus
But the Woman in White is unmoved.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Recommended Reading for Thoughtful Americans: "The Limits of Power" by Andrew J. Bacevich

Andrew J. Bacevich
I have wanted to read the book "The Limits of Power" ever since hearing Andrew J. Bacevich at the Wisconsin Book Festival a few years back. An idea he expressed there that made my jaw drop was that America's empire building was the activity of citizens uninterested in reforming their own nation.

Referring to the work of United States theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (author of the serenity prayer), Bacevich felt expansionist militaristic activity represented almost an addict's way of denying the reality that there are "limits to power."

His book was just as compelling as the talk I had originally heard. I admired his ability to dissect American thinking from within America.

Bacevich urges readers not to look to their politicians with blame for their dependence on foreign oil, necessary military expansion to access it, and demands that the world conform to America's way of thinking. He argues the politicians have just sold Americans what they want to buy: a foreign policy based on grandiosity without the budget or wherewithal to achieve it.
“History will not judge kindly a people who find nothing amiss in the prospect of endless armed conflict so long as they themselves are spared the effects. Nor will it view with favor an electorate that delivers political power into the hands of leaders unable to envision any alternative to perpetual war.
Rather than insisting the world accommodate the United States, Americans need to reassert control over their own destiny, ending their condition of dependency and abandoning their imperial delusions. “ - page 13
I found this to be deeply inspiring, deeply patriotic reading. Bacevich asks Americans to ask more of themselves. Bacevich's book made me want to read everything else he has written. He has a new book soon to come out called "Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country."
 
"The Limits of Power" is part of a whole series of titles called "The American Empire Project" devoted to asking Americans to consider whether empire is the highest expression of the American idea. More titles can be found at www.americanempireproject.com
 
If you would like to hear an interview with Andrew J. Bacevich from when the book was published, click here for part one. To learn more about this public intellectual who attracts interest from both sides of the political aisle, click here. 
 
Andrew J. Bacevich believes Americans are still in denial and not ready to face that we are choosing a life of dependency on foreign oil and credit. He says there is nothing in the preamble to the Constitution to try and "remake the World in our image" and our perpetual war to 'spread freedom' actually detracts from freedom at home.
 
While Americans view our projection of military power as a strength, Bacevich actually argues our perpetual war is a way of delaying our acknowledgement that we have chosen to squander our power (and our moral authority, when we choose global preemptive war) for our generation and generations to come.
 
An example from the book of what Americans should be working on vs. what we are working on:
For the United States, abolishing nuclear weapons ought to be an urgent national security priority. So too should preserving our planet. These are the meta-challenges of our time. Addressing them promises to be the work of decades. Yet ridding the world of nuclear weapons is likely to prove far more plausible and achievable than ridding the world of evil [something Bush said he would do - an example of American foreign policy grandiosity]. Transforming humankind's relationship to the environment, which will affect the way people live their daily lives, can hardly prove more difficult than transforming the Greater Middle East, which requires changing the way a billion or more Muslims think. -page 178
What do you think? Is American engagement with the world attempting that which we can not pay for or even accomplish (eliminating evil, establishing Western democracy in countries that don't have it)? What's your view? How would America go about changing our priorities, especially when continuing with perpetual war and lack of reform benefits those in power?
 
 
 
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Friday, July 26, 2013

Dinner on the Bosphorus at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski's Bosphorus Grill

I love experiences that heighten the senses. It was with great anticipation that I accepted an invitation to dine at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski's Bosphorus Grill. It's not everyday that one is invited to dine where sultans did, in an Ottoman palace setting, no less.

Earlier this year, I had had my first hammam in Istanbul at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski. Knowing the excellence that the Kempinski Hotel group brought to the operation of their properties, I knew that dinner at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski would be just as divine.
Outside the actual palace,
the gates for arriving water craft
gave a hint of the Bosphorus beauty to come.
Spectacular flowers
greet guests on entry to the hotel:
roses, orchids, lilies, and my favorite:
hydrangeas
I glanced up above the reception desk
to appreciate for a moment
the way one would arrive
at the Çırağan Palace
back in Ottoman times.
 The stately Laledan restaurant
where the weekly Sunday brunch is held.
I would pass through Laledan on my way to the
outdoor Bosphorus grill.
Every inch of the grounds
contribute to relaxing guests.
 
Palm trees and salvia create a
destination entrance
to the Bosphorus Grill.
My hostesses:
Lara and Ciler,
two dynamic young professional
Turkish women who are
superb stewards of the hotel's legacy.
 Lara and Ciler
recommended we try
a Turkish wine from
Bozcadda Island.
 
Corvus Corvus
came from
a high-tech boutique winery
started by an Istanbul architect
and his wife.
They had left everything
to move to the island
and had begun to make wine.
 How romantic.
Children would love the Bosphorus Grill
because the boats come extra close
to see the Palace and the property.
Sezai Erdoğan
is the first Turkish
Executive Chef
at Çırağan Palace Kempinski
in Istanbul,
a pioneering achievement.
Aferin!
 
He is in charge of all the restaurant
and banquet kitchens
within the hotel.
 
Soon after Chef Erdoğan
came by to wish us a good meal,
 Mother Nature added to the evening's enjoyment
by rolling in a mighty thunderstorm
 from the Black Sea:
The storm was so much fun to experience!
The storm came quickly
from the Black Sea,
changed the skies over the Bosphorus
and poured down rain,
and just as quickly,
moved on to the Marmara Sea
at the other end of the Bosphorus.
When the rain stopped,
we went to the banquet area to peek
at what was on offer.
Turkey has extraordinary fruits
during the summer season,
especially Adana watermelon,
fresh melons, apricots, and pears.
 
Notice too, the large Medjool dates
which are
traditionally used to break
a Ramazan fast
due to the amount of sweet, filling, flesh
found in a single date.
That's important for those who have been fasting
since before sunrise.
Eating one date immediately
upon the end of a day's fast
removes the edge of hunger.

 There was a beautiful salad bar.
I resisted.
When in Turkey,
why have salad,
when Turkish chefs
prepare sumptuous mezes
to offer a bit of this and a bit of that?
Oh, and here they are.
Choices upon choices.

Green chicken curry with bamboo shoot
and cashew nut
Sautéed oyster mushrooms with fresh herbs
Grilled baby fennel with carrots
Ratatouille with basil
My final selection of mezes.
Believe me, it was hard to choose.
Looking at the bottom left,
have you even seen smoked salmon and strawberries
paired like that?
That was an idea new to me -
and what a delicious combination.
It was Smoked salmon and avocado salad
with strawberry and balsamic sauce.
 
An eggplant meze up front
because Turkish chefs
know how to make eggplant sing.
This was a Soya marinated,
baked eggplant salad with and fried onions.
 
Fennel comfit with root vegetables,
cinnamon, and star anise
because somehow the Europeans have kept the secret
of how delicious fennel is to themselves.
America has yet to discover fennel
in a big way.
 
Purslane salad with yogurt, garlic and peanuts
(not only is it a delicious salad green,
purslane is a very healthy super food),
also sweet potato salad
 with beef bacon and fresh herbs.
 
Potatoes gratin with truffles -
what satisfying comfort food.
 
The star of the plate was that tiny oven-roasted pear
with ricotta cheese and balsamic dressing.
Wow, it was fantastic.
 After our meze course,
we went back to the grill.
There were roasted lambs and chickens
and vegetables.
Chef d'parti Ibrahim Ünalan demonstrated
how he puts the naan on the side of the oven wall
with his naan mitt -
a detail kids would love
to watch performed
while they peer into the naan oven.
I had never seen this before.
So this is how naan is cooked!
There were so many meats
to choose from for a custom grill.
I choose two delicate lamb chops.
It was a hard choice, because the
pistachio-marinated beef tenderloin
also called out to me.
For those who preferred fish for their grill course,
there was mackerel, and salmon, and prawns
and many other fresh, top-quality choices.
Beef tenderloin
I can get back home,
but lamb done Ottoman-style
is not so easily found
in America.
I made the right choice!
 
 
Our final selection of the evening
was dessert.
What choices!
 Chef Ibrahim shows off
five different kinds of
homemade baklava.
 I think I'll have to try one
 of those small chocolate mousses
in the bottom right corner.
More tortes, cakes, and puddings.
Homemade mango sorbet
accompanied with chocolate mousse
and seasonal summer fruits.
What a beautiful finish to
a lovely dinner
at Çırağan Palace Kempinski's
Bosphorus Grill.
 
To see the entire menu
and price list,
 
 
 
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Yes, Empty Nest Expat is on Facebook. You can follow me there!
 
 
 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Enjoying Istanbul Waffles

Every city has its famous street food. Istanbul is no different. I don't know how I made it three years without ever tasting one of Istanbul's famous waffles, but somehow I had. It was time to rectify that.

My friend Barb and I had met Internations friends for an afternoon exploring Istanbul's haunted mansion and first art museum in a working office.  After we finished, it was time for a treat. We adjourned to Barb's neighborhood, Bebek, and got in line for waffles (except the girl who was fasting for Ramazan - what discipline!).
There is always a line.
Waffles are beloved in Istanbul.
I admired this Turkish Dad
out making a memory
with his kids.
 We were right behind them
in line.
A waffle maker has to be
even more patient than
a Subway sandwich artist,
because there are even more toppings!
 
First goes on the base cream.
Here are some of your choices:
Nutella, Hazelnut, Dark Chocolate,
Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate,
Caramel, Strawberry, Pistachio,
Banana, and Coconut.
 
I chose Pistachio and White Chocolate.
 Then there is all the fruit.
I chose bananas, cherries,
strawberries, and kiwi.
That was pretty tame
given all of the
candied and fresh options.
 
 
 One last sprinkling
of chopped pistachios.
What I didn't expect
was how warm it would be.
I thought it would have lost its warmth
by the time he assembled it all, but no.
 
One delicious warm, gooey bite after another.
I am not waiting three more years to have another.
 
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