Istanbul: Parliamentary Recess Post 2 of 5

Istanbul was so cool. It went by so fast. 

I had never been that far East before and I was scared because I had heard Turkey is not the safest place and that recently Turkey and Syria had not been happy neighbors. So while I was at the Munich airport, I used the rest of the money on my phone to call the hostel in Turkey and ask to use their airport shuttle service. He asked me to spell my name, I told him what time my flight was, and he told me someone would be there to pick me up. He didn't speak English very well, but I figured if it didn't work out, I'd just take public transportation. I figured a direct airport to hostel shuttle would be safer though, considering I couldn't get lost, I was a girl alone, and I obviously stood out as a tourist with my suitcase.

I arrived in Turkey. When I came out the exit there was a guy holding a sign that said "KEOOY TRUNNBUOO". Figuring that was me, I went up to him and said hi. He spoke no English, but using hand gestures he directed me to another guy. They spoke and the other guy instructed me to wait at the Burger King. I was starting to get paranoid because I was questioning the shuttle's legitimacy. "Traffic," the guy told me. "Here soon." I smiled and nodded. 

The second guy came up to me and said something. I didn't understand him so I just smiled. "Put your coat on." He told me. "...okay?" I responded and put my coat on. I then followed the first guy outside to wait for the shuttle. "Where from?" He asked me. "California," I told him. "Ah I want to be there!" he told me. That was the extent of the conversation we could have with the language barriers. Eventually a white shuttle looking van came skidding to a halt next to the curb.

The guy took my bag and put it in the back. I thanked him and, slightly suspicious, I got in the car. I texted Jacob explicit details about my arrival time and location and held my jenky Samsung phone in my hand the whole trip. I scanned the inside of the van for any signs or certifications and sat right next to the door. The driver, a thin Turkish man in his mid 20s, pointed to the sign with my 'name'. I nodded and he pointed to 'Cordial House Hotel', which was printed underneath. I nodded again and he took off. 

He initially got on the wrong on ramp, but casually corrected this mistake by backing up the on ramp and going the other way. I paid close attention as he wove in between cars to make sure we were headed to Istanbul, just in case. 

"No English," he told me and frowned. "It's okay," I told him. There was vicious traffic most of the way. The driver muttered to himself in Turkish and used the shoulder as a lane, cutting in front of other cars aggressively, occasionally turning down a radio station that was mostly remixed American Top 40, to answer one of his two cell phones. 

About an hour in he turned around. "Smoke?" he asked offering me a cigarette. I shook my head. He pointed to himself. "Okay I smoke?" I nodded, worried about what his driving would be like if he was unhappy. He proceeded to chain smoke the rest of the ride, respectfully blowing the smoke out the open window.

I watched Asian Istanbul go by, marveling at the dense burgundy, tan, and orange buildings, the dusty and dilapidated buildings with peeling paint, the giant hills, the the square buildings interrupted by the round top mosques and their minarets piercing the skyline frequently.

Even in the crazy traffic there were people walking between the lanes selling food, flowers, and other random things. The driver waved one down and bought two bags of hazelnuts in tiny plastic ziploc bags and gave one to me. I thanked him and put it in my purse when he wasn't looking because I didn't know what they were at the time.

Eventually we crossed a giant bridge to European Istanbul. By this time it was evening and I had a stunning view of the packed city lit up in the hills.

The driver began trying to teach me Turkish. He would say a word and have me repeat it back. Even as the word was coming out of my mouth I could hear how badly I butchered it. Turkish is a very difficult language.

It had been almost two hours when the driver stopped abruptly on a small cobblestone street and another Turkish man got in the passenger seat. I started to worry again, but he appeared to just be giving him directions. He wove through several more crowded cobblestone streets before stopping in front of the hostel.

Relieved, I hopped out of the shuttle. He instructed me to pay inside. I thanked him and went inside and greeted Jacob and Anne in the lobby. We had a room to ourselves, a little green room with four tiny twin beds, with massive springs inside and pillows so solid they gave you a kink in your neck. But it was very nice to have our own room because we didn't have to worry about our stuff.

We decided to go on a night walk and go to dinner on our first night. We wound our way through crowded and twisting cobblestone streets, hopping out of the way ever now and then for a speeding car. We eventually made our way to a big open square in the Sultanahmed area of Istanbul. "This is so cool." We kept repeating as we wandered through the Hippodrom, looked at obelisks with Egyptian hieroglyphs  the Blue Mosque, and the Hagia Sophia. They were closed, but it was still cool to wander around because they were lit up, so it looked like they were glowing gold against the black night sky. 

Obelisk during the day

We walked through a market, many of the shops still open despite the late hour. There were men playing backgammon in the middle of the market, and stray cats everywhere. We made our way back up hill to find someplace to eat. 

There were men outside every restaurant handing us business cards and asking us to look at their menu. We just picked one and went inside. It turned out to be great. I ordered a chicken shish kebap. The waiter was very talkative. The meal was delicious and came with grilled chicken, peppers, onions, tomatoes, rice pilaf, some bread, and chips. The group of rowdy Dutch next to us ordered a dish fire cooked in a clay pot which they got to smash at the end. The waiter put on a small fire show as well. After dinner we bought baklava and ate it as we walked toward the water.

We then went on a walk along the edge of Europe looking at the city lights across the strait. It was so pretty looking at all the colorful lights compacted close together covering the hills. Lit up mosques broke up the city lights. We could see the bridge lit up as well. We got lost going back to the hostel, and we made some scary dashes across the road, but we eventually made it back. 

It was really great traveling with Jacob and Anne, because in addition to the fact that I enjoyed their company, they were great travelers. They had good map reading skills, sight seeing ambition, were willing to try anything, and were very adaptable. Whenever something went wrong, we'd all just shrug it off, go along with it, adjust our plans, and hope for the best. It really was a great trip. 

We made it back to the hostel and went to bed. It was so hot everywhere, but especially in our room. We slept with the fan on and the windows open. Unfortunately that meant we heard all the city noise, which included construction that started up around one in the morning, no joke. Jacob and I also got woken up by the Muslim Call to Prayer around 5:45 in the morning. 

Semi rested, we got an early start to our first full day in Istanbul. I needed to buy a scarf to cover my hair when we went into mosques, so we went to the market we went to the night before. I was being really picky, but eventually I decided on a green flowered silk scarf. The shopkeeper welcomed us into his shop and put the scarf on me. "25 Lira, good price because you first customer today." We had just had a conversation about haggling, so I decided to try. "15?" I said timidly. "No, too low. 25." I looked at Jacob. He shrugged and told me in German that he thought it was a good price. I told him I agreed and bought the scarf. Speaking German came in handy to us a lot. We were able to communicate when we didn't want people to understand us. In addition, we also got mistaken for German a lot, even when we were speaking English. 

I was somewhat worried about getting sick from food that we bought, so I tried to avoid buying meat or dairy from the stands that were on every corner. We got breakfast from a stand though, and it was delicious. We all got borek, a flaky thin bread stuffed with cooked spinach and little chili peppers. 

We then began our sightseeing expedition. We began at the Hippodrom, where we started the night before. The Hippodrom is now just a big square with a lot of peddlers. We first went to the Blue Mosque. It was very impressive. We waited in a long line to get in. Anne and I had to tie our hair up and cover it with a scarf. Anne had to wear an extra wrap skirt to cover her leggings. We all had to take our shoes off. We marveled at the thick carpet, the intricate paintings, and the stained glass. If I had to pick a word to describe all the places we saw, I'd use intricate. Everything's finely detailed and there are lots of different colors and patterns. I thought I typically preferred simplicity, but the complexity and intricacy of all the details in all the buildings were very pretty and cool. 

Me in a scarf in front of the Blue Mosque

The ceiling of the Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque from the Hagia Sophia

We then went to the Hagia Sophia (pronounced Aya Sofia). It was a huge, very old building near the Blue Mosque. It was originally a church, then became a mosque, and is now a museum. We waited in a long line for that as well, and were offered goods or tours every few minutes.

The inside of the Hagia Sophia was very cool. We walked around staring up for a long time because the dome was so impressive. This was very intricate as well. You could see both Christian and Muslim influences. There were a lot of biblical mosaics as well as big Arabic circles. We walked up a stone ramp and viewed it form a second level, which was very pretty as well. 

In front of the Hagia Sophia

Waiting to get into the Hagia Sophia

The inside

The dome, a "tribute to the cosmos"

Muslim influences

View from the second level

Mosaics

We then got lunch from a small window store. We all got chicken pitas and we ate them on a pseudo bench, with stray cats watching us hopefully. Jacob and Anne also got freshly squeezed pomegranate juice from a street vendor.

Close by, there was a very small building labeled "Cistern" that we went in. I had no idea what to expect. We paid and walked down some stairs. It was so cool. I know I keep saying that, but it was true. It was very dark, but glowing red and there were columns everywhere. Before we appreciated it too much, we saw one of those uber touristy costume photo stands. We looked at each other and were like "I kind of want to do that." So we did. They dressed us in Turkish garb and took our photos. When they played our slideshow we were cracking up so much. "25 Euro for the whole CD, for you 20 Euro," the guy told us. Many places accepted both Euro and Lira. We liked the pictures so much, we bought the whole CD.

We then walked around what used to be an ancient well. There were little boardwalks over a thin layer of water. There were fish swimming around in the water. All the columns had been recycled from ruins when the cistern was built, so there were lots of different types. There were also two stone Medusa heads. It was eerie and mysterious and the ceiling dripped and it was very interesting. 

Medusa head

I was proud of this picture because the shutter speed was 1 second due to lack of light

Fish in the cistern

We then went to the Grand Bazaar. Istanbul has a very long history of trade and gained a lot of prominence over the centuries as both the last stop on the silk road and a port of trade. The Grand Bazaar is considered one of the world's oldest malls. It is covered with white and blue patterns on the ceiling. According to Anne's very useful but often incorrect tour guide book, there were over 4,000 shops crammed in there. 

One of the entrances to the Grand Bazaar

Decorated ceilings

There were shops filled with twisting, hanging, colored baubles and lamps, stores with piles of folded scarves, stores with tons of jewelry. All the shopkeepers called out "Hello! Welcome! Come look in my shop!" It was friendly and forward, but it wasn't pushy or annoying. We'd just call out "Hello!" back and keep walking. We kept taking random turns. While a lot of the stores sold similar products, all the stores were different. There was so much to look at, and it didn't get boring walking around. I wanted to buy everything, but I had to restrain myself. 

There was a lot of very pretty pottery and I decided I wanted to buy a little something so I could participate in a centuries old tradition. I wanted to compare prices for the little bowl I wanted to buy, so I could get an idea for what was a standard price. I asked a shopkeeper how much it was and he said "4 Lira." So I smiled and said, "Thanks, I'll think about it." And started to walk away. "Let me help you," he stopped me. "Which one do you like most?" I scanned them and pointed to a pink one. "3 Lira," he told me. "Okay," I said without even realizing it. He put it in a bag for me and I paid. So I successfully bargained without even intending to. I had read that sometimes shopkeepers sell real artifacts, and if you get caught trying to take an artifact out of the country you get arrested. I worried that would happen, but I asked a guy at the tourist office if it was okay and he laughed at me and said, "Yes, it's just a gift, not an artifact." 

We then drank apple tea at a small cafe, which basically tasted like hot apple juice, but it was nice to rest our feet.

We then decided to heck out the Spice Bazaar. We got lost along the way and ended up in an outdoor market. The streets were packed with people and storefronts selling clothes and shoes and more were spilling out into the street. We were the only tourists and all the stuff going on was overwhelming, but interesting. Most of the people shopping were women wearing head scarves and most of the shopkeepers were men. We asked for directions a couple times and then eventually found it. 

Market where we got lost

The Spice Bazaar was a slightly smaller version of the Grand Bazaar without the designs on the inside. It was mostly stores selling spices and Turkish delight and tea. Everything was piled high in different colored spice, dessert, and tea mountains in wooden bins. It was very cool and smelled great.

The Spice Bazaar

We walked outside past the New Mosque, under a tunnel (that was also packed with shops), and across a bridge to look at the views of Istanbul. It was very pretty looking at all the pale buildings and the many mosques from the ocean's edge to the top of the tall hill.

We then took a tram back to our hostel. It cost 3 Lira to buy a little plastic token. You feed the token through a turnstile to get to the tram platform. They come at least every 5 minutes and all of them are packed full of people. 

We grabbed jackets at the hostel, checked our Facebooks on our phones in the lobby, and walked to a street that had a lot of restaurants. We wanted to eat on a rooftop, so we stopped by one restaurant to check prices. It was a bit expensive, so we started to walk on. The host said, "You are students, no?" We told him we were, and he said if we returned he'd give us a deal. We walked around for a bit and everything was close to the same price, so we went back. He gave us 10% off, a piece of thin sesame bread and free coffee and tea. I ordered a chicken shish kebap again. Dinners were always fun because we ate slowly and took our time and sat around and talked for awhile. We stayed in that area for a little longer and then went back to the hostel. 

I'm going to split up the Istanbul post into two because I wrote a lot! Hope your weekends were all nice!