I miss your joyous wedding celebrations – the singing and dancing so loud it filters through the streets and continues late into the night. I miss being lulled awake by the haunting, early-morning call to prayer that echoes from the Blue Mosque.
And who could forget the Bosphorus? A heaving strait of water separating one city into two continents; to be sitting in Europe but to almost be able to touch Asia is priceless. I want to watch the sun set from your river banks again, a frosty glass of raki in hand at the stunning Feriye Lokanta restaurant and gaze at the Ortakoy neo-baroque mosque lit up at night, hovering on the water.
If I close my eyes I can remember your sights, your smells, so vividly.
I remember those smooth-talking cafe owners trying to lure me into their establishments with the promise of a delicious mezze plate; lavash made in a tandoor and puffed up as big as my head. And who could forget that potent, almost-psychedelic coffee you could stand a teaspoon up in?
In Turkish culture, they say the thick, muddy coffee grounds will tell my fortune … do they predict we'll meet again? I hope so.
- Courtney Whitaker