I love Turkey, part one.

I wasn't sure, starting this podcast, about the title. "I love Turkey, part one" is very basic, and sounds like a child is saying it. But, honestly, I can't think of another because my recent trip to Turkey left me both astonished and dying to go back. I had only done a little research about the country before I left, so I confess that I was quite ignorant about it. Unfortunately, (1)add to that the fact that in secondary school we were not taught anything about Turkey, and you get a picture of just how ignorant I was before my trip. My father had the good fortune of working in Turkey when I was a baby. He loved his experience! "I like the Turkish people," he said. "Very direct and friendly as long as you are polite. There's no messing with them." I found that to be true. People in general were very warm and helpful, very Mediterranean, like my Spanish family.

I travelled for ten days with my son, Cass, who had already been there for a couple of weeks. We went to Istanbul, Cappadocia, and Izmir. What a tapestry of beauty and history it was! I was impressed, the first day, by the massive river, the Bosphorus. There was a constant coming and going of fishing boats of (2)all sizes, and avid fishermen on the bridge all day, even into the evening. From our hotel, early in the morning, after waking to the morning prayers, I would climb the stairs to the roof and watch the boats with their twinkling lights move back and forth as the city woke up. And then there were the mosques, of course. We only had time to visit the Blue Mosque, and the Hagia Sophia. The latter made quite an impact on me. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site which is about 2000 years old. For almost a millenium it was the largest cathedral in the Christian faith. It was a center for political, artistic, and religious life. Then after 1453, when Sultan Mehmed 2nd conquered Constantinople, it was designated a mosque and remained one for almost 500 years. A friendly security guard, called Umut, gave us an impromptu tour and explained much of this history. 

And then, there were the cats. I am a cat-lover, so I can say, with authority, that it was a cat-lover's paradise. I have never seen so many, and with such a variety of fur colors and patterns. They were all so well looked after. And this was the case everywhere I went in Turkey. The cats are basically spoiled! Apparently, the prophet Mohamed declared that cats are clean, and so this humane routine of meeting all of their needs is practiced all over Turkey. I bet the mice and rats are not too happy. There must be armies of cats at night that (3)decimate the rodents. On a quick trip to the east side of Instanbul, in Asia, we came across a cat hotel. It was a large metal box-like structure that only cats could get in, with stacks and rows of individual sleeping compartments. And on the floor was food and water. I've never seen anything like it. There is so much to tell, and still so much to know about this fascinating country that I certainly cannot fit it all into one podcast. The Bosphorus, the Hagia Sophia, and the cats were my first experiences of Turkey. In my next podcasts you will find many more.

Grammar Points.

• 1. 'Add to that...' is a great way of extending a sentence by including more information. It definitely gives a sense of emphasizing a point.
• a. She has never worked. Add to that her lazy attitude, and you can see why I think she will not keep this new job.
• b. After being outside for hours in the freezing rain, the protesters were not happy. Add to that the transportation strike, so the protesters couldn't get home!
• 2. 'All sizes' or 'all shapes and sizes' are wonderful phrases in English that give an upbeat tone about the variety in life.
• a. My customers come in all shapes and sizes. Some are nice, some, not so nice. You never know what you're going to get.
• b. People are like fruit, they come in all shapes and sizes. And while some are quite sweet, others are downright sour!
• 3. The verb 'to decimate' is a strong sounding verb of violence. It means to utterly reduce, or severely weaken.
• a. The city was decimated by the hurricane.
• b. The disease decimated the wheat crop and so prices for flour went sky high.