Istanbul Pictures!

Here's the full set of pictures that I took.  I certainly don't meet my dad's record of over a thousand pictures per vacation.  Here are some of the sites I felt worthy of capturing.  Perhaps when my friends Julie and Andrew return I'll add some of their photos to the collection.

Day Five

Heading home today! I'm currently in Dulles Airport, waiting for my connecting flight back to Boston. I was delayed getting in here and missed my scheduled plane, but they got me on another flights happily. I got some dinner (OK, a pretzel and a frappucino, but really, I've been away for 23 hours now, this is about 5th meal of the day.)

Turkey was amazing. It was definitely one of my bumpier vacations, but totally worth it in the end. The language continued to baffle me but I was finally starting to get hello, please, and thank you when it was time to go.

I also met an 8th grade teacher, Vedat, who worked at my hotel. He's a history teacher too, and we are going to try to set up a letter writing exchange with our students. I'm excited about it as a chance for my kids to talk to someone who lives in a Muslim country, and he's excited for his kids to get to practice their English. What luck that we started talking as I waited for my taxi.

At the airport were a bunch of people heading to Mecca, dressed in the white robe of a pilgrim. I was already in a secure zone so I couldn't really talk to them, but they didn't have any carry on luggage except a copy of the Koran.

Day Four, wishing for more

Last full day in Istanbul, and I'm finally getting the hang of this city.  Of course that means I have to leave.  I'm starting to be able to pronounce words correctly from signs and from the guidebook.  I've figured out how to get from the hotel to the old quarter of the city where the sights are without getting lost.  Alas, that's what always happens.

We started at the Blue Mosque, along with the mass of tourists.  I have such a fierce hatred of big tour groups, and today didn't help.  They tend to ignore etiquette signs and block views from others, and there's such a sense of entitlement, that individuals can be shoved out of the way in favor of these groups who are trying to keep to a schedule.  We arrived in the giant crowd and stood in line, then had to cover heads and take off shoes before going inside.   Lots of people with no shoes meant that it smelled like stinky feet inside, not fun.  However, the tile work was beautiful.  The dome seemed impossibly high, with half domes blooming out from it like petals.  The colors were amazing- I wish we could have gone upstairs to see it closer, but I had to rely on camera zoom to do that.

After the mosque we went to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, which was blissfully uncrowded.  There were exhibits and artifacts highlighting the history of the Turkish people and the Islamic Empires.  My favorite thing there?  A yurt.  I love a good yurt. 

We grabbed a quick lunch at a place that was too touristy for my taste, but I tried pide, sort of a cross between flatbread and pizza, with ground beef, tomatoes, and green peppers.  We then headed back toward the hotel.  Julie and Andrew went to rest while I did some more shopping at the Grand Bazaar.  Then I headed off into the lower section of the peninsula to find some lesser sites.  I found a church-turned-mosque called the Little AyaSofya, with the help of a friendly restauranteur and a cute little old guy in a suit.  Inside it looks nothing like the bigger church, but the outside design was similar.  I also studied the remaining wall of the Hippodrome (called the Spheredrome) which now looks like a crumbling retaining wall, and found another mosque by Sinan that I could only go into the courtyard of because of prayers. 

As evening approached, Julie and I went up to the main street again and walked down to take some nighttime shots of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.  They were lit up beautifully and I played with my camera settings a little bit trying to get the best shot.  We then went back to the restaurant district by our hotel for dinner, and watched quite the show.  The roving Turkish bands were incredibly amusing with a group of Chinese tourists who were dancing and singing, then launched into a Chinese song.  They then moved on to a group of what looked like Turkish business men, who were downing the raki and having a grand old time.  It was a great last night there.

Day Three, Wheeeee!

Today has been FANTASTIC!  The rain finally stopped, our bags arrived late last night (right after we left a department store, which had just closed so we couldn't return what we'd bought), and we got into some amazing sites.  We started at the Chora Church, a site I hadn't really know about but it's one of the 1000 Places to see before you die.  The Church is full of nearly complete Byzantine mosaics depicting the lives of Mary and Jesus, as well as some cool medieval frescoes.  It's from the late Byzantine period, so it's better preserved than those in the Hagia Sophia.  We used the tour book to guide us around.  I couldn't get over the tiny, tiny pieces that were in the mosaics- I'd always imagined them small, but they were smaller than my little fingernail.  I can't even fathom how many pieces were in there.

 We had lunch at a restaurant called Asitane, which featured traditional Ottoman recipes that had been researched from imperial kitchens.  My chicken dish had apricots, raisins, and onions and dated back to the 1500s!  It was really good too.  Andrew had what looked like a prehistoric shank of lamb.

After lunch, we took a cab to the AyaSofia, which was simply amazing.  The scaffolding was DOWN!  Gone, gone, gone and it made me so happy to see straight up into the dome with no obstructions.  I was amazed by the size and how light it was inside.  The hanging chandeliers were numerous, but it was the natural light from the windows that were most impressive.  We read a lot about the architecture and how the weight of the dome was distributed through the arches.  We went to the second floor to see some of the mosaics and look down into the nave.  I was really happy to finally be at a place I've seen so many times in a virtual tour, to put together the pieces.  It looks just the same, from the ruins of the old basillica to the giant Arabic decorations inside the church (for the kid who asked what they said- Muhammad and Allah in the front, the four caliphs around the middle, and the name of two of Muhammad's grandsons who were assassinated at the back).

 

So, after AyaSofya came the disastrous Skype session.  I guess there were connection problems at the Ottoson end, which is so disappointing because I left it set up just ready to go, but something jammed over the long weekend and it had to be rebooted, and it just all got messed up.  I was able to connect and see everyone, and I think they saw me, but the sound wasn't coming through from Ottoson, and I don't know if they could hear me.  I tried a few times, then went to the ancient cistern while the kids were out of cluster, then tried again but it just wasn't working for me.  I'm bummed that the school's technology failed again.  It's such a continual issue that prevents so many cool things.

Anyway, I would have kept trying but people were giving me really strange looks, and the guards were really not happy with me standing in one spot with a webcam for hours, so I had to give up.  We walked through the Hippodrome, where ancient chariot races were, though no real indications of it remain except historical memory.  It was where the Nika Riots began.  Then we took the train to a funicular to Taksim Square, in the modern part of the city.  We wandered down through Ishtikal Street, which was all fun modern shops and restaurants.  Yes, there was Starbucks and McDonalds, but also lots of fun Turkish places.  We ate in a traditional restaurant, and I had Turkish ravioli, which weren't very good.  That's ok, though, it was fun to try something new.  We walked the rest of the way down the street, stopping in a few stores but not buying anything, then took a different funicular and a train back to the hotel.

So I'm still bummed Skype didn't work, but at least I tried and got to see everyone back home for a few seconds.  Hope you're all doing well.  Only one more day here for me- maybe I'll wear some of my new Turkish clothes tomorrow.

Much better now!

Have dry clothes and a grand plan for tomorrow including the Hagia Sophia skype. Can't wait!

Day Two, nothing new

Turkey is still very wet and I still have no luggage.  I'm getting really sick of the same pair of jeans and same sweater.  The airlines swear that the bags will be arriving in Istanbul at 4 PM today, but it was only after a lot of calling that we had to locate them and then alert the airlines as to where they were.  It seems that the airlines should have figured that out on their own.  I'm already penning the angry letter in my head.  Thankfully with trip insurance I was able to get clean socks and things, and my LLBean moccassins have held up incredibly well even in the wet.

Swords for sale- none for you, Remy!

This morning we headed out to the Grand Bazaar, which was happily indoors.  There was so much there, mostly pottery, textiles, rugs, and a few oddities like silver and musical instruments.  We wandered for most of the morning.  I have no patience for bargaining, so it's not really my scene, but Andrew got some great deal on new jeans (yay, clean!) and I ended up with a couple of pillow cases.  We ate lunch at an attached restaurant that had been recommended, and it was so good.  Andrew and I had this lamb thing mixed with vegetables under a cover of pastry and cheese.  There was also an amazing eggplant puree.  Julie had her favorite tomato and cucumber salad, but said it was more vinegary than in the States.

After lunch it had stopped raining so we walked to the Suleimanie mosque but it was closed for prayers.  Grr.  then we walked to the spice market, while it started raining again.  It was in a giant maze of pedestrian streets.  One shopkeeper let us try a few spices, and I bought a mix called Jannisary Blend.  Then we tried to find a cab back but we were in the middle of that huge pedestrian zone without knowing it so we walked until we were back at the Grand Bazaar, and eventually had to just walk to the hotel.  Now I am wet, cold, and sort of cranky, and really just want my luggage to arrive.

Day One, so much fun!

It's raining, it's pouring, I have no luggage, so I'm wearing free airline socks and getting wet because my umbrella was in my suitcase.  Great way to start the trip!  Apparently our bags are in DC and won't be here until tomorrow afternoon.  We stopped to get a few necessities (yay, trip insurance).

So today, we went to Topkapi Palace today, fording mid sized streams to get there and only getting slightly lost.  Thanks to the kindness of strangers at other hotels, we were redirected to the big open area where all the major sites (and tour buses) were.  Blue Mosque!  Hagia Sophia!  I had to marvel just a bit at the Hagia Sophia, taking a picture even though it was pouring rain.  It's just as impressive as I'd imagined, and yes, there is wifi nearby.  Skype plan is ON!

We got up to Topkapi Palace and got our tickets, our audio guide.  My mom said Istanbul was impressive but not beautiful and I could sort of see that there.  It's not restored much and while inside is very elaborate, outside was sort of blah.  But the treasury was AMAZING with tons of jewels and gold, and the reliquary was full of wonders including hairs from Muhammad's beard and the supposed staff of Moses (note to self: find decomposition rate of wood).  I love relics, I've said that before.


We went into the harem too, which was all fancy tiles.  It got a little overwhelming.  It was beautiful but sort of too busy for my taste.  All the patterns mixed together was dizzying.  I tried to zoom in on some close ups for pictures.

The archaeology museum had some cool sarcophagi but I was more impressed with a delicious Ottoman dinner - some beef on pita concoction after an appetizer of cucumber yogurt dip.  We got Turkish delight and baklava on the way home, along with a change of clothes for tomorrow since ours are still missing.

Arrival!

Made it into Istanbul safely after a delightful flight on Turkish air. Unfortunately, bags got lost.

Getting Ready

My bags are packed, my sub plans are done and photocopies, and after a quick stop at CVS for contact lens solution and another travel toothpaste, I will be completely ready!

Istanbul- everyone wants to know why I want to go there, and I don't really have a short answer.  It's an incredibly historic city, one that has migrated through several different empires and religions in its long life.  It's changed names, governments, and is the only city in the world that spans two continents.  It's a cosmopolitan city in a Muslim country, and known for its food as well as its sites.

So, I go, to adventure and explore.  It's supposed to be warmer than expected but raining on a few days, so the umbrella and raincoat are packed along with the sandals and sweaters.  All in all, I'm looking forward to the long plane ride as a chance to read, and the excitement that comes at the other end.