Istanbul

March 31, 2008 Monday

Monday morning we flew to Istanbul, checked into our hostel and set out to do some sightseeing. We tried to go to the Hagia Sophia but it was closed on Mondays, and the Blue Mosque was in service. We went to the Topkapi Palace instead which was actually really interesting and had all sorts of fun treasures. It was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans. The complex was made of four main courtyards and several smaller buildings. It was full of examples of Ottoman architecture, and contained large collections of porcelain, robes, weapons, shields, armor, murals, and Ottoman treasures and jewelry as well. Of course the treasures and Jewelry were of the most interest to me, closely followed by the details in the architecture. Definitely not “builder-grade” ;).

They come together to make a breathtaking setting.

Lunch was very traditionally Turkish, but food that we were used to from Cyprus so it wasn’t too adventurous for us. After lunch we had the first of many apple teas, and I fell asleep at the table from the exhausting travel. Due to my sudden bout of Narcolepsy it was decided that a nap would be in order. We returned to the Orient Hostel. When we woke up we just went upstairs to the conveniently located restaurant above the hostel for dinner and a beer during a football game (soccer).

It wasn’t the most eventful day, but we needed a break after gogogo for so long last week. Tuesday was much more jam packed.

April 1, 2008 Tuesday

Tuesday started with a visit to the Blue Mosque or more specifically the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. It is one of several known as the “blue mosque,” but it’s the only one in Istanbul. There are so many because it was named after the blue tiles that adorn the walls of its interior. It was such an incredibly majestic building! Definitely fulfilled the purpose of outdoing the Hagia Sophia. The design seemed to be a mix of Ottoman mosques and Byzantine churches. The exterior was overwhelming in size, and majesty but the interior lacked a little bit of that creativity. The interior walls were decorated with more than 20,000 handmade tiles in more then 50 different tulip designs. They come together to make a breathtaking setting.

Next we stopped into a place that stored the burials of several Sultans. The tombs ranged in sizes, and we assumed this was because of the varying ages of the sultans. Some were very small – baby sultans, and some were huge – giant sultans.

We saw the Hippodrome which was really nothing, although that could possibly be because we didn’t have a tour guide to explain it to us. It was once the sporting and social center of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine empire, where Istanbul lies today. Few fragments of the original structure survive (which is probably why it didn’t seem to significant to us). Interestingly enough, despite the animosity between the Greeks and the Turks, this symbolically significant site found its name from the combination of the greek words for horse = hippos and path or way = dromos. Horse racing was a popular pastime in the ancient world. What WAS standing there still was The Kaiser Wilhelm Fountain, which was quite impressive with gold pressed into the roof of an octagon shaped fountain.

Next was the Hagia Sophia. Meaning “Holy Wisdom” in Greek. It is a former patriarchal basilica turned mosque, now museum. Famous for its massive dome, which was indeed massive beyond belief. How did they do that without all of our modern construction equipment?! It is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture, and was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly 1,000 years. Finally it was surpassed by the Seville Cathedral in 1520. Unfortunately there was scaffolding across the entire center of the building, so that kind of obscured the view of the alter. Still beautiful, I think I prefer the view from the upper gallery. It did not always look as it does today. When the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople and the building was converted from basilica to mosque, much was removed. Among several things added, the most significant were the four minarets outside

We went to the Basilica Cistern too since it was in the same area. It is this underground area with columns in water. Apparently it is commonly used for concerts and movies. One of the James Bond movies – From Russia with Love – features a scene filmed there. Also in the Basilica Cistern were a couple columns specifically made with Medusa’s head crushed at the bottom.

We took a break for some apple tea and hooka at a place called Corlulu ali pasa medresesi. It was an adorable place that we would return to before we left. There was all outdoor seating in the sunshine on low couches with low tables. It was so cozy and comfy we ended up staying for a couple hours just sitting and talking.

On our way back to the hostel we got stopped by a couple men who owned a Turkish carpet shop. They offered Amanda S and Liz apple tea so they followed him in and we sat for awhile. They tried to sell us rugs that we really could not afford. The owner was telling us how Bill Clinton had been in his shop with Monica Lewinsky (yeah right…). He asked Liz if she had email and she said, “yeah, everybody does!” He asked for it and she of course refused. We learned not to talk to the carpet people. But we became accustomed to the apple tea.

Next was the grand bazaar which was a joyful shopping and bargaining experience. We all found presents for our family and a few things for ourselves as well so the few hours we spent there were pretty fruitful. It is one of the largest covered markets in the world with more than 58 streets, and 4,000 shops.

After our long day we were entirely exhausted, and went to a Turkish Bath. It was really relaxing and came with a much needed massage. First we relaxed in a steam room on a round marble slab that was on the floor. We then were washed with a salt scrub, and our hair was shampooed. At the end they dumped a bucket of water on us. I was the first to go and wasn’t quite prepared for that part, but luckily I didn’t loose my contacts! After that we could lay in the steam room as long as we wished, though we couldn’t have been there for more then a couple hours.

After we were tired of laying around, we bought a few glasses of fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice, and we walked back to the hostel where we enjoyed a Turkish meze for dinner.

April 2, 2008 Wednesday

Wednesday we got up bright and early so we could catch a 6 hour cruise down the Bosphorus before flying out and back to Athens that evening. It was a long walk to the port! Once there, we couldn’t find exactly where to go to find the cruise we were looking for. After asking for directions, we were walking towards it and miraculously ran into the ships captain. We still don’t know quite how this happened, but we were walking and the man asked if we were looking for the Bosphorus Cruise. We said yes and he opened the folder he was holding and started showing us pictures of what we would see on the route. There was a 6 hour cruise option and a 2 hour option. We decided two hours was good enough and followed him to his vessel. We hopped on to a full ferry and we were on our way. However, the cruise was slightly disappointing as we quickly realized once floating down the straight that they would not be informing us of what we were passing. Jenn was frantically flipping through our tour guide book trying to match pictures to what we were seeing. We still aren’t entirely sure what we got to see on that ride, but it was a pleasant way to spend a few hours nonetheless. We did get to see the “Japanese side” of Istanbul on the side of the river opposite to where we had been sightseeing, as well as the castle that made the Ottoman Empire go bankrupt.

Since we got done with that earlier then expected we decided to check out the nearby Egyptian Market (Spice Bazaar). It was filled with spices, dried fruits, nuts, seeds, and what else? Turkish Delights of course!

Then it was back to Corlulu Ali Pasa Medresesi to relax and get our last taste of apple tea before our flight. The hostel owner called us a van so that we wouldn’t have to try and cram all of our luggage into a taxi again, and we met it back at the hostel when it was time to go. Upon arrival to Athens we took a taxi to a small hotel by the Pireaus port where our ferry to Santorini would depart from in the morning. Our flight got in late at night, and our ferry left early in the morning so we got about 3-4 hours of sleep before we were on the move again walking to the port.