Bridging The Gap

I am back in Mayberry, USA. But not really. Almost every part of me is still in Istanbul. I keep seeing the view from the hotel window in my mind, the one with the Bosphorus Bridge~ lit like candy~ in the background. It was a spectacular view, both from the 4th floor and the rooftop restaurant. I spent considerable time watching that bridge change from blue to red to green to yellow after dark, and then again at dawn. Dawn was especially sweet with the horizon blushing red and Venus, as the morning star, standing guard. Yes, I am still there.

The Bosphorus Bridge connects the continents of Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus strait. The expansive and sprawling city of Istanbul exists on both sides of the bridge. The European side is more bustling, more touristy; the Asian side is more business-like, more even paced. I loved the view of the bridge not only for its beauty, but for its symbolic connection of 2 diverse ways of life. It reaches across a relatively small gap and forges a bond. It unites differences, it joins lives. It is a free-flowing artery that, if taken, combines the 2 beating hearts of one city. Or the 2 beating hearts of one couple.

Forget the Ayasofya, forget the Blue Mosque, forget the Grand Bazaar; the symbol of my Istanbul adventure is the bridge. The literal one I traveled over by taxi and watched morning, noon and night. And the symbolic one forged between the eastern man and the western woman who dared to step to the edge and throw love across the gap.