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October 25 thru 28, 2005 - Our last days in Istanbul and Turkey, Simhat Torah Celebration at Etz Hayim Community in Ortakoy, Taking the Ferry to the Princess Islands, Walking in the City and Discovering SABUN and Istanbuls' Greatest Bagels


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Istanbul

We walked to Ortakoy to join the Etz Hayim community in their Simhat Torah Celebration. Ortakoy is where many Jewish families reside, and the synagogue is by the Bosphorus Bridge. The following day we did a self-guided walking tour in the Path of the Empire, the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent is really magnificent and I need to read about his wife, Roxalena, she sounds like a smart woman.

We needed a fresh supply of oxygen after a week in Istanbul, so we did what the locals do, we took the ferry to the Princess Island, about 20 km away in the Marmara Sea. There are five Islands, we visited two. The biggest surprise, no cars are allowed on the islands, so there are lots of horses and bikes. Most Jewish people in Istanbul own summer homes here and they have clubs where they swim and socialize. There are three synagogues on the islands that operate during the summer. We enjoyed the slow pace of the islands, as you can see by the many photos we took there.

The last day was spent just walking in the city and when I saw the SABUN display, soaps shaped like fruit, I was thinking about last night at our Paris Hotel. We were out of soap, so I went to the reception and asked the young man for soap. He does not speak English and with hand motions I was trying to explain to him what soap is. Finally he understood and asked me: Sabun? (for non-Hebrew speaking, Sabon means soap in Hebrew).

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