The couple days after Halloween passed fairly slowly. I didn’t have any classes on Monday due to a national holiday, and three of my four classes were cancelled on Tuesday for a variety of reasons. Wednesday the only class I have is my tour for Art and Architecture. Needless to say, I got plenty of rest over the early portion of the week,
Thursday would have been a normal day had Pat and I not been leaving for Istanbul. His flight was fairly early, so he got up and left around 7:30. My flight didn’t leave until 6, so I went to German, went home and packed, went to my EU class, and then headed to the airport. I missed one class that evening and German on Friday (but at least 6 other people we’re going to miss German as well). My flight landed around 9:30. I had pretty good directions to the Orient Hostel from the airport, so I took the metro seven stops, got off, and took a tramline another 14 or 15. I got off the tram at the right point, but ran into a couple of major issues. I didn’t know where on my map the tram let off, nor could I really tell where I was because the fog was so thick (I walked parallel to and 20 yards from the Blue Mosque for about two blocks and never saw it). I walked around for a little bit, asked some other people who looked like tourists, and miraculously ended up in the right neighborhood. This really was a miracle given that most of my turns I was just picking left or right, and Istanbul is only slightly better at indicating what street you’re on than Cairo was.
Anyway, I asked at a couple of hotels for directions and eventually found the hostel (around 11). Pat was there waiting; he had spent most of the afternoon exploring our area of town and making friends at a bar across the street. We decided to call it a night since we had plenty to do over the next three days.
Day 1: We woke up around 9, took showers, and headed upstairs for breakfast. There was tea, bread, jam, and some kind of bread that vaguely resembled French toast but tasted like eggs. We ate as much as we wanted (which wasn’t much - about 3 pieces of bread each) and headed out for the day. From the top of our hostel you should be able to see most of Istanbul, including the part in Asia, but the morning fog was too thick every morning., though throughout the day it would eventually burn off.
Our first stop for the day was the Blue Mosque. So named for the thousands of tiles inside that are blue, I was shocked when I discovered I had walked directly past it and not seen it. It was similar to some of the ones we saw in Cairo, except it was much larger than most of those. From the outside it looks layered – that is to say it looks as though there are lots of little domes building up to the one in the center. Inside, the center dome is absolutely massive, and the decoration is really pretty. It is still active, so we had to remove our shoes in order to go inside, but the lighting (while not the best for taking pictures) and interior design were quite fascinating.
Stop two was right across the street (again, how I missed it, I have no idea) – Aya Sofia. Formerly a Roman basilica turned into a mosque, it was declared secular a number of decades ago and now serves as a “museum,” which pretty much meant they had just labeled everything inside the mosque. Still, the inside of the mosque itself is still quite pretty, the large, circular panels on the walls containing old Arabic writing were interesting, and we got to see a number of very old mosaics of things like the Mother and Child, the Last Judgment, and certain leaders from centuries ago. There was also a cat that had run inside and some woman was petting it. When she squatted to pet it more it jumped in her lap and knocked her over, which made me miss my cat that I’ve never met. Most impressively, it appears that at one point in its glorious history, Aya Sofia’s interior was completely covered in mosaics. Pat and I are reasonably sure that this included everything – even the ceilings and the mammoth dome.
Stop three was again across the street, except in a different direction. Here we went below ground to view a Roman Cistern. Evidently this is just a giant underground pool they created to just show that they could create one. There were twelve rows of 28 giant columns supporting it, and the water was full of fishes. We walked on the walkway all the way around. In the back corner there are two columns on top of stones bearing Medusa’s head. Historians are not exactly sure why they’re there, nor are they sure why one is upside down and the other sideways (though at this point they’re reasonably sure this was intentional). The whole place had a really spooky feeling, certainly aided by the way the fish squirmed through the water. It was certainly interesting, and definitely made us both wonder how they built this entire thing underground and found a way to run water into it.
Stop four on the day was the Hippodrome (again across the street in yet a different direction), where emperors used to hold chariot races. There was an Egyptian obelisk (psh I’ve seen better) on top of a Roman base, and at the other end there was some other obelisk made much later by I don’t know whom. Interestingly enough, the Egyptian one was in impeccable condition (except the top which appeared to be a favorite place for birds to stop), while the other had all sorts of scaffolding around it and was crumbling in a variety of places. The top of the newer one was admittedly straighter (Romans must have been better at geometry), but the one that was at least a thousand years older was faring far better.
Stop five on the day was just to take a picture of a massive column built in 300 BC commemorating the capture of the city. That’s all that was built. Just a column. But they made sure it was big enough that everyone would know what it was for.
Stop six was the grand bazaar. Grand was right. We didn’t know exactly where the entrance was, so I think we ended up coming in on the side, but there’s no real rhyme or reason to it anyway. It’s indoors, but mostly just a big maze. Every 50 feet we would come to a turn and one of us would randomly pick left, right, or straight. It was similar to Khan al-Khalili in Cairo, except this one was bigger, covered, and more expensive. They had plenty of things on sale though: little figurines, all kinds of jewelry, clothes, rugs, hats, scarves, and even kids’ toys. Eventually we ended up stumbling out into the open air where I found a jersey for 10 Lira (approximately 5 euro or 7-8 dollars).
Stop 7 was the spice bazaar. Similar to the grand bazaar only smaller, it was still a small maze and every shop had spices pilled high. It smelled amazing and was pretty neat to see how much of these spices there were. Plus, it was one of the original spice markets where spices were originally sent to the west. Outside the spice market was the “New Mosque,” evidently named because it was built much more recently than many of the other ones in the city and has more modern architecture.
Stop 8 involved a significant climb up a hill to see the Suliyemani Mosque. Touted as one of the biggest in Istanbul, its location on a hill is supposed to provide a fantastic view. Unfortunately, after our climb we discovered that it is under severe renovations and was not open to the public. Instead we ended up browsing Suleiman the Magnificent’s tomb (he doubled the size of the Ottoman Empire and was only stopped at Vienna) and we had to settle for looking up at the minarets of the mosque – two of which are 70-some meters tall and the other two are 50-some meters tall. This made it easy to recognize a couple days later when we were out on a boat.
After dinner (kebap – there was lots of that on the trip) we went to a rooftop bar because they’re supposed to provide some of the best views of the city. The one we went to, however, was ridiculously expensive, so we only spent about 45 minutes there. Still, the view out over the water and the rest of the city was fantastic. We couldn’t help but wonder why more of the city wasn’t lit up. Even the mosques only had very dim lights, and in the mist and haze it was tough to see them. The city has so much to offer and is currently touted as the “European Center of Culture,” but it seems to fall short of flaunting as much as it could.
After the rooftop bar we headed back to the area of town near our hostel and ended up just hanging out across the street from our hostel for a while and trying to make friends with passer-bys. It was actually pretty cool – most of the places have areas you can sit on cushions on the ground and spread out, and this place, Backpackers, had an area outside under a heating lamp, so we attempted to make friends as they walked past down the road. Our hostel was on a street with a bunch of other hostels so there were lots of locals and tourists alike wandering the streets from a variety of other countries.
Finally…onto Day #2:
We woke up a little later on the second day be cause we had significantly fewer stops planned. First up was the castle. Most recently used by the Ottomans, it was built much, much earlier. It overlooks the water (but again it was too hazy in the morning to see Asia) and had plenty of different parts. The imperial treasury was pretty impressive – there were two ridiculous daggers, one of which was completely covered in emeralds. There were also tons of different little rooms and buildings, almost all of which had small domes (typical architecture I’ll end up writing about for my architecture course). It seemed like every room had something to do with “this is where the sultan relaxed” or “this is where the sultan took naps” or “this is where the sultan had meetings, and then relaxed and took a nap”. It did have a great view and the original walls enclosed a really large area. We paid the extra money to see the royal harem where women would spend their entire lives. It was certainly interesting and parts were lavishly decorated, yet it was weird to think that the only way women left this was to die (sorry…that was a bit morbid).
After a late lunch we crossed the bridge to go see a tower on the other side. We made it up to the top just in time to see the sunset at about 4:30. Unfortunately there is quite a bit of fog or haze over the city, so it wasn’t dazzling, but it was funny to think that three months earlier we watch the sun rise from the Sinai Peninsula. I had a really peaceful feeling that this trip here was really just rounding out my travels as a whole. Anyway, at that point Pat and I looked at each other and went, “That was three months ago!?” Time has certainly just flown by. Five weeks from tomorrow I’ll be leaving Vienna. How did that happen?
That night we walked to Taksim Square down Istiklal Street, which is just a giant, long, crowded, and fun main pedestrian zone (like the one in Vienna, except a tram runs down it as well). We ate dinner at a restaurant along the way; I had a chicken dish served with apples – delicious. We got to the main square where we saw a very small rally (for what I don’t know, I couldn’t read the signs) which was a little unnerving because a few meters away there was a group of police officers just kind of eyeing the demonstration. So we avoided that and walked around the square for a bit. Eventually we just headed back down the big hill to the water and across the bridge. We spent some time at our favorite spot across from our hostel, Backpacker’s, and then went to listen to a bit of live music and dance. We only got to see one “Whirling Dervish” number but the music was interesting and the atmosphere quite lively.
Day 3:
Our third full day in Istanbul was spent almost entirely on a cruise up the Bosporus Straight (which leads to the Black Sea). We started about 10:30 when it was still a bit foggy and chilly, but the tour went most of the way up the straight. Along the way we saw lots of different sights: the final Ottoman palace built during their downfall (which was supposed to show how strong they still were but ended up bankrupting the government and only hastening their decline), the “castle of Europe” across from the “castle of Asia” (the European one was way bigger and controlled everything that came though the straight), the Turkish military school, and many other, smaller sights.
At around 12:15 we docked near the end of the straight (on the Asian side of the straight…which means I have now technically set foot on 4 different continents). Pat and I got off and went to look for lunch. There were lots of seafood restaurants that tried to pull us in. Eventually we picked one and sat down. They brought us a menu, we ordered drinks, and as we were talking about what to order they just brought us two fish sandwiches. This turned out to be the cheapest option so we just ate them.
After eating we opted to make the 20-30 minute walk/hike/climb to the top of the hill to see another old fortress. Unfortunately it was closed due to excavations, so we didn’t get to see the inside. Still, the view from the top was really pretty, and we got to look out over the Black Sea. Pat and I spent about 20 minutes just sitting and looking. Eventually we wandered down but stopped at the hammocks that were set up and took a 20-minute nap. I also stopped once to pet a cat, which purred, which made me miss the cat I’ve never met again.
Anyway, eventually we made it down and took the hour and a half ferry back to where we started. Near the end of the ride the sun started to set, so we got to take more pictures of that. Once we docked we decided just to go straight to a Turkish bath to make sure we got to do that. We decided to go to the most famous yet touristy one (which was a good decision because it ended up being super anyway). They gave us rooms in which we could change into small towels, then a small bar of soap, and then we headed into the bath. It was so hot. We washed ourselves down, laid on the hot rock in the middle, and then repeated. Eventually we got so hot we had to start dousing ourselves with lukewarm/cold water because we were over heating. Still, it was really cool. We opted for the self-bathing option, though we could have chosen the scrub down or a massage (I was sooooo tempted to get a massage, but it was probably the right decision not to). There was no way to know how much time had passed, and once we could no longer bear the heat we left. After toweling off and changing we realized we had probably only been inside for about 30-40 minutes, though it felt like much, much longer.
We ate dinner at a rooftop restaurant (which wasn’t that great, at least not as good as other meals) and then decided to try a place a couple doors down from Backpacker’s (mostly because the music was louder and it was drowning out Backpacker’s). After a short while we just went back to the hostel.
Day 4: I got up at 7 and left for the airport by 8. I got there in plenty of time, which was good because I didn’t know exactly which part to go to. My trip back involved a connection through Ankara, so I had to go to the domestic terminal (which I chose to do just because the lines at the international terminal were so long). I made my way through security despite the fact that pretty much everyone spoke Turkish because it was all a domestic zone. My flight was the same way (so I just ordered “cola” to drink), but it was about a 40-minute flight in which you were given an entire meal to eat in about 8 minutes. In Ankara I made my way to the international zone (which was pretty much deserted) and passed my 2-hour layover before someone finally showed up and opened our gate. The flight to Vienna took about 2 hours and 45 minutes, and unfortunately it was cloudy for most of it so I didn’t get to see everything we flew over. Oh well.
It was nice to be home. I made it to my philosophy class at 6:20. The president of my program (IES) sat in on our class (next to me…needless to say I took quite diligent notes). Finally I got to just relax for the last couple hours of the night and get a decent amount of sleep.
Three final notes:
(1) Laura Jerzyk and Quinn Rodgers come to visit this weekend. They are both friends of mine from KC. Also, Mal Kennedy (mom and dad, if you remember, she was the girl who introduced herself to you as my girlfriend freshman year…she’s quite the character) and Melissa Hickey, two friends from Davidson are also visiting. It will be a little crowded, but I’m really excited to see all of them!
(2) Pat and I noted while staring out of one of the castles the vast effect mother nature has had on the course of human history. The Ottomans were stopped at Vienna because they couldn’t move their artillery through the mud, then winter set in, and their supply lines were cut off. Otherwise they would have completely outnumbered those in Vienna and had free reign to continue on through Europe, vastly changing what we consider to be “Europe” and how it would have developed. In the same way, Napoleon and Hitler were both stopped by the long and hard winters of rural Russia. The success of either man in these areas would have rewritten the continent of Europe.
(3) Two months from today will be January 9, 2011 when everyone will be back on campus at Davidson. I cannot wait. I miss a lot of people a lot (if that makes sense). Also, five weeks from tomorrow I will be leaving Vienna. This is quite bitter sweet. I can’t wait to see my family and friends, but I know that I will miss it a lot here. I’ll quote Pat here, who noted that it’s going to be great to be home, and the first three weeks at school will be awesome – yet once it sets in that we’re back at Davidson and have to start doing lots of work and get back to worrying about the real world, it is highly likely we miss being in Vienna a whole lot more than right after we leave.
Sorry this was so long. Here are some pictures!
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| The Blue Mosque |
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| Aya Sofia |
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The bottom corner is mosaic, leading Pat and I to believe that it all
used to be that way. |
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| The Roman Cistern |
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| One of the Medusa heads |
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| The obelisk at the Hippodrome |
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| The Grand Bazaar |
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| The spice bazaar |
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| The view from the rooftop cafe. Not a lot of lights. |
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| Entrance to the castle on day 2 |
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| Inside the castle |
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| View from the top - the haze obstructed our view |
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These are some of the blue tiles that were in lots of buildings -
it was tiles like these that gave the Blue Mosque its name |
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| "This is where the sultan relaxed" |
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| The tower from which we watched the sunset |
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| The sunset (obviously) |
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| At the center of Taksim Square |
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| The palace that sent the Ottomans into bankrupcy |
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| The European castle |
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Someone was throwing food off of the boat so birds started
attacking from all over |
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| Whoo!! |
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| The ruins of the castle on the Asian banks |
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| I thought this was really cute. They're looking out over the Black Sea |
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| The sun starting to set |
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| The sun setting over the Sulemaniye Mosque |
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| And finally - the entrance to the Turkish bath |
