No expectations. No fears
I did not have any expectations of the city. I compiled a list of twenty-something items to see and experience, and tossed away the attempts to imagine how those items might manifest itself in reality. Until the very morning of the departure, I held on to the bliss of denial, and it didn't dawn on me that I was going to a different country until I was on the way to the airport. When you have no expectations, the reality surpasses the highest of them. When you are not looking for anyone particular, you encounter the people you’ve been awaiting for years. When you let the road guide you, it brings you to the most wonderful destinations. Our road brought us to Istanbul. Istanbul welcomed us with innumerable tulips and a gorgeous sunset. It charmed us tirelessly, and we fell in for this charm without resistance. It gave us a cozy little apartment to stay overnight and countless sights to explore during the day. It woke us up at dawn with overlapping calls of muezzins a