Please forgive the delayed update, this whole walking around and touring thing is pretty exhausting, by the time I get back to the hostel where I’ll have time to write, I’m too exhausted to do much. All is going very well, however (minus the darned heat rash).

 

Not only is it beautiful, but it’s absolutely massive!

 

The highlight, of course, for me, was meeting the Aya Sophia cat. There’s a whole other blog that I found prior to my trip about this cat.  He apparently deemed me worthy of his presence because  he jumped into my lap and started purring.

 

Later we went to the Archaeology museum, which turned out to be rather large, I would say the biggest I’ve ever been to, almost overwhelming in fact.  I was very excited to finally see the Treaty of Kadesh, which is the earliest known peace treaty. It was written between the Egyptians and the Hittites  in 1258 BCE.  I was particularly struck by how small it was.

 

Today so far I’ve just wandered the Grand Bazaar a bit, it’s HUGE, but pretty expensive, so I didn’t do any shopping there. Then walked across the Galata Bridge to see the city from the Galata Tower:

Truth be told, I am ready to move on to the next place. I leave on Friday for Cappadocia, which will be a nice change from the city. Before I leave though, I plan to see the Whirling Dervishes a spiritual ceremony called the Mevlevi Sema that represents the mystical journey of man’s spiritual ascent through mind and love to perfection. It’s an 800 year old tradition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is difficult to find alone time to focus on writing this blog. This is the exact opposite of what I expected. Not that I am complaining, not one bit. Meeting all of my new friends has been the highlight of the trip, and it is really sad as they move on to other places. I think there can be a special bond between travelers who are on their own, there is an understanding and camaraderie about it. With that said, tomorrow I hope to have a quieter day, I think maybe I will go to the Prince’s Islands then to another Hamam. 

Later we went to The Blue Mosque, I found it truly peaceful because of its massiveness paired with its simplicity. Compared to many old Cathedrals, I find it easier to simply be with God because there is little to distract you, no statues, mosaics, frescoes. 

Additionally, I had my favorite meal so far. It is basically chicken and rice cooked into philo dough then cut open. I did not get a picture, but here is one of some other fantastic food…

I keep getting notes from friends back home regarding the protests and riots. I assure you that I am staying far away (remember, Istanbul is huge). If necessary, I will leave and go elsewhere, but I highly doubt that will happen. The only way this is impacting me is that it is prohibiting me from going to some of the places I would like to go and from seeing my friend. I do really feel for the Citizens of Turkey, though. Being here has shown me how important free speech and democracy really are.

Valens aquaducts!!

In an attempt to avoid the riots, which I am sure you have heard of, my new friends and I embarked over to the Asian side yesterday morning. (I can now say I’ve been to 4 Continents, yay!) We started with visiting a Hamam (Turkish Bath) in the area of Kadikoy. This particular Bath House, called the Aziziye Hamami is only about 150 years old, and was quite simple, but still beautiful.  I suspect later this week I will go try another older one, just for the sake of it. Plus, it is enjoyable. It’s basically a sauna where you can relax and get a full body exfoliation and massage. 

Setting up for the protest, I guess it got pretty bad over there about an hour or so after we left.

We ended up wandering the Spice Bazaar, which is less spice and more stuff, but there were a few fun spice booths:

I do plan to go back and buy some teas and Turkish coffee!

We were all absolutely exhausted from the heat of the Hamam and the day, so we came back to the Hostel to chill out before dinner with a view:

Apparently, my body has decided it only wants to sleep for 5 hours a night, yet I’m exhausted. Today is really rainy, so it might be a good idea to just relax….

Let’s start with the Underwhelmed part. My new friend and I awoke early to go to Topkapi Palace which was the home of the Sultan and his family for almost 300 years. We arrived prior to its opening and still had to stand in line, but it was a short line compared to the rest of the tour of the Palace! Fortunately, we toured the Harem first then the rest of the Palace. By the time we exited the Harem, the lines to see the other major exhibits were HUGE, like, so big they weren’t worth waiting in. Plus, there are almost no signs to tell you where you are, so it’s very difficult to find where you want to go. Additionally, if you didn’t hire a tour guide, there is no information other than an expensive book guide to give you further history (and that’s what I want since I’m a nerd). It was gorgeous, the tiles  were simply stunning, there was so much diversity in the styles of them, but we didn’t see that much of the Palace because it was just so hard to maneuver.  I want to offer to volunteer as their curator to fix all of their sign and information problems.  Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

Most useful sign ever…said no one ever! But at least there was some beauty as well:

Iznik Tiles!

Also incredibly annoying are all of the merchant men leering and you and calling you “Sweetheart” to get you into their restaurants and shops. I hate ignoring them, it feels rude, but it’s just kind of gross.

Now for the AMAZING parts of the day:

1.  Turkish Breakfast is about the best thing ever, and our hostel puts on an excellent spread.  They eat breads, cheeses, fruit (fresh), tomatoes, granola, yogurt, etc.  It’s the perfect way to start the day.

2. I walked over to the Caferage Medresesi, which is an arts center where you can take lessons in Turkish crafts. Initially I had gone to get a schedule for their Ebru class (see prior post: Classes). I ended up getting a private lesson right there and spent an hour making art! It was SO much fun to see it work and explore different techniques. I will pick up my dried art tomorrow and will take pictures for you then.  Seriously, I was giddy afterwards.  The whole process involves painting on a canvas of water with an oil based paint, then transferring the paint to paper. I think when I return home I will look into getting the supplies to do it at home because it was such fun.

3. My friend Kelly who is from Portland lives here in Istanbul where she teaches English. I brought 2 of my new hostel friends (I’ve now made 4 because I am so popular), and we met Kelly who took us to the area of the Galata Tower for a Turkish dinner (I had lamb kepab….Yum!). We sat and visited for quite a while before going to get some of the best Baklava ever. There are riots in Taksim Square which isn’t far from where we were, so Kelly headed home and the three of us tourists came back to the Old City.

4. On the way back from there, we stopped at the New Mosque, which is 350 years old. We got there just before the Call to Prayer, so just spent a couple of minutes there. It was lovely:

5. While at Topkapi Palace, we sat for a while at a cafe and talked to a tour guide who was on his break, he gave us excellent tips and didn’t try to sell us anything! 

The best part: It’s almost midnight and I could probably keep going even though I woke up at 7:30. If you know me at all, you know I tire very easily, so this is an excellent sign than I am having fun!

Not sure what’s in store for tomorrow yet, it will depend on the riots I think, but don’t worry, I will stay far away from them!

Seriously, somebody pinch me because I’m dreaming. That or I’m such in a jet lag induced haze after 20 hours with no sleep. The later is probably the most true.  I am currently sitting in the rooftop cafe o my hostel, letting the breeze from the Sea of Marmara wash over me and take away the sticky feeling from the humidity.  From the rooftop where I sit, I can see the Bosphorus and across it, Asian Istanbul.  I’m suddenly very aware of how large the Bosphorus is and wonder how on earth the old caique (boats) ever made it across in even semi-bad weather (they did not run during real storms from what I understand). The Willamette River holds nothing on the Bosphorus. If I were to move to another spot on the rooftop here, I would be able to see the highest dome and minarets of The Hagia Sophia Mosque. Earlier when walking around with my new friend (more on that later), I heard the Call to Prayer and suddenly felt like a “decadent Westerner” (If you watch “Little Mosque on the Prairie,” then you will understand the humor here). It wasn’t nearly as loud as I thought it would be. I was hoping it would knock me off my feet, that way I would be certain to hear it from my hostel and it would wake me early enough for embracing whatever the day held.

Here’s to a slow, but excellent start to an amazing adventure!

See Asia there across the river?!

As I continue to research and read about Turkey and Istanbul, I’m constantly being drawn to more resources. The newest is a magazine called Cornucopia which is dedicated specifically to anything Turkish.  They only release three issues per year, so I am not going to subscribe considering I’m hoping to go to Istanbul in just a couple of months. But you can order old issues, which I thought might be fun. So I was just browsing through them when I found one titled, “The Connosseur’s Guide to Istanbul.”  It  was printed in 2004, so a bit outdated, but I thought I’d order it just to check it out.  However, imagine my surprise to find out that this one particular edition costs….wait for it…$796!!!!!!  HOLY CRAP!

So basically, I can read this edition or I can actually GO to Istanbul. Think I’ll stick with the trip.

🙂