Istanbul, it’s nobody’s business but the Turks

We really did not know what to expect in Turkey, even though we had done some research and spoken with Turkish John, who has been there many times. As we flew into Istanbul, you could see how big it is. It is an urban sprawl along the Sea of Marmar and Bosporus River. We flew into an airport which is about 45 minutes outside of the main part of the city and took a shuttle through the greater Istanbul area. It is very modern, with large apartment complexes and a huge network of freeways complete with people selling fruits and knick-knacks on it; kind of reminds you of Los Angeles.

This was the first time we had been in a Muslim country and the sight of mosques and minarets was very different. Just like Europe is dotted with churches everywhere, Istanbul is covered with mosques. Another thing that took getting used to was the ‘Call To Prayer’ that is played over the megaphones from the mosques five time a day. It really adds to the atmosphere that is so foreign to us.

Turkish people are extremely friendly and nice. And in Istanbul, they all speak English, which makes things very easy there. Even Allen Iverson could make it here. There is a lot of energy running through the streets and the city is in constant motion. It sits right on the water, and the views are amazing, even if through a haze of pollution at times. It is a really fun and scenic place, and we hope to be back again someday.

In the 8 days we spent there, we took over 600 pictures, so honestly, here is just a taste even if it seems like a pictorial buffet.

We stayed in the Sultanahmet district, which is a great area close to many of the major sites. It was about a 5 minute walk to the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. The area has a couple blocks of nice restaurants, bars, and shops.

We walked by a café and saw a sign displaying a banner about and underground palace, as featured on the History Channel’s Underground Cities. One of the employees struck up a conversation with us and invited us to take a look. He spent a few years in Vermont working and snowboarding, and was a really nice guy. Underneath the café they discovered an underground section of the old palace that covered a large area in Sultanhamet. Part of it is under the nearby Four Seasons Hotel, which they sell tickets to see.

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque, is a beautiful and enormous structure that looks out over the Sea of Marmar and is across from the Hagia Sophia. Amazingly, it is also free to visit. You can’t enter during prayer time and you take must off your shoes (and cover your hair and arms if you are a women). The interior has intricate and colorful painted walls and ceilings, and some of the most amazing tile work.

We got an informal tour of the Blue Mosque from a carpet salesman, who got us to go back to his shop, even though we had no interests in carpets, but what the heck. The head salesman was named Aziz, who lived in New Jersey for a number of years. He taught us all about carpets, how to tell quality, the different materials used, different dyes, and how they are made; all this even though we were upfront that we couldn’t carry one around the world.

The Hagia Sophia is an amazing structure with a lot of history. It as built in 360 as a cathedral for Constantinople, and it was the largest cathedral for about 1,000 years. It went through a number of renovations and additions, the most dramatic when being turned into a Mosque when the city was conquered by the Ottomans. It is massive and filled with interesting architecture and art. One of the strangest things is the combination of Christian and Muslim features.

The food in Istanbul is excellent, especially for how cheap it is. You can get a pretty decent spread for about $10. We tried over a half dozen doner kebabs (mostly because we were budgeting and they are about $3 each) and found some to be a lot better than others. Our favorite was the one pictured above near the Grand Bazaar, it had vegetables roasting with the meat and the sauce was great. We also had a few fresh squeezed pomegranate (or Nar in Turkish) drinks, that were available throughout the city.

The Grand Bazaar is a shopper’s paradise, as long as your paradise includes aggressive salespeople. Throughout our stay in Istanbul, we always had restaurants yelling at you to look at their menu or sit down, street vendors shoving anything from perfume to cell phones in your face, and it seems like everyone is trying to sell you a rug. The Grand Bazaar has over 4,000 shops and there are sections including gold and jewelry, clothing, scarves, rugs, and there is a separate Spice Market in another neighborhood. Vince found the negotiating fun, being able to use lessons learned in his Negotiations class. Anchor low.

This is the entrance to Topkapi Palace, the residence of the Sultan.

There are three courtyards that are surrounded by a number of different buildings. In the first courtyard, there are the kitchens and administrative buildings (Megan is posing in one of the entrances to a meeting room). This courtyard is also where people who served the court came to meet, deliver goods, and receive payment.

This is the entrance to the second courtyard.

The second courtyard features a library and a series of rooms surrounding it that now holds treasures. There are absolutely incredible pieces like jewelry, weapons, and furniture made of gold, silver, inlaid mother of pearl and covered with thousands of jewels like emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and other precious stones. There were a section with old Kaftans, traditional ceremonial outfits of the Sultan and his court. Another room had some ancient Muslim relics including original sections of the Kabba and strands of Mohammed’s hair. They also had “Moses’s Staff” and other questionable biblical relics.

We weren’t able to take pictures inside where all the treasures were kept, but at one point you pass to this covered patio with views out over the Bosporus. The third courtyard is to the left of this view and features some gardens, a circumcision room, and a few other small buildings.

We also toured the Harem that is the private residence of the Sultan’s concubines and is managed by Eunuchs, mainly from Africa. They spent their entire lives within this compound. The concubines had their own hierarchy, the Sultan had his favorites and others were given off to court officials. The Eunuchs also had quite a bit of administrative duties. The Harem is room after room of incredibly decorated floors, walls, and ceilings.

On our way to the ferry terminal, we passed by this fish market that had many stalls with creative displays of seafood. So began our debacle of getting to our next destination Izmir. The Ferry was sold out, then we tried to get a bus there, but they were all sold out. This was mostly due to the beginning of a religious holiday that week. The bus system is interesting because there are dozens of individual companies that operate buses to different cities, so we had to go from office to office at the bus terminal to try to find a ticket. Thankfully there was a flight, though considerably more expensive made the trip about 2 hours instead of 9.

This obelisk is part of what remains of the Hippodrome, an area next to the Blue Mosque where they used to have horse races.

We took a ferry ride out to the Princes’ Islands, a series of small islands about an hour away from Istanbul. On the main island Büyükada we rented bikes and toured around. There are a lot of these large Victorian houses on the island that were the residences and summer homes to some wealthy families. There are also tons of these horse drawn carriages flying around the island, they really get going, especially downhill.

We walked our bikes up this extremely steep path to a mountain top convent. The convent was pretty small and basic, but interesting since Istanbul is a Muslim country. The view out over the sea and back towards Istanbul was amazing.

The ferry ride back at night had some spectacular sights.

The Basilica Cistern is an underground water storage tank/structure built in 3^rd Century BC underneath a Basilica, hence the name. It covers about 100,000 square feet, with hundreds of columns, many with different styles. There are a pair of columns that have sculptures of the head of Madusa as their base.

We headed over to Taksim Square on the Asian side of Istanbul and walked down the busy, main shopping street. At the end of the street is the Gallata Tower that can be seen from many parts of the city. It was built in 1348 and was a defensive tower. It is one of the few remaining structures connected with a old system of defensive walls that ran throughout the area.

The bridge connecting the two sides of Istanbul is littered with fisherman. Walking across the bridge can be precarious; you have to be on constant lookout for castings.

We visited several other mosques including the Little Aya Sophia, the New Mosque, and this, the Süleymaniye Mosque, which is one of the largest. We tried going earlier in the week, but it was closed and we happen to catch it on the day of its re-opening after 4 years of being closed for renovations.