Istanbul!

On our first day in Turkey, we started in Sultanahmet, the neighborhood where our hotel was located. After breakfast, we walked up to the Blue Mosque which we could see from the roof of the hotel. The hotel breakfasts were large: half a loaf of bread, butter, jam, cheese, olives, tomato, cucumber, a hard-boiled egg and the tea/coffee assortment. I made grits each morning (instant, with hot water) and ate Jess’s portion of the tomato along with my own (which means I ate a whole tomato!). At the Blue Mosque, we had to take our shoes off and make sure our shoulders and chests were covered. My short-sleeved shirt was a v-neck, so I covered up with the fabric scrap.

This was the first time that I was inside a mosque. In Morocco I had been inside a few medrasas and in Sarajevo, my mom and I were able to enter the courtyard of a mosque, but as a non-Muslim, I had not been able to enter. The Blue Mosque is set up for tourism and many people were there visiting it. Inside the mosque was very large: the domed ceiling was probably six or seven stories above our heads, supported by four columns, which were probably 20-25 feet in circumference. The floors were carpeted (which is why we had to take our shoes off) because when Muslims pray, they have to bend over and bow on the ground. We were restricted to a visiting space about 40 feet from the quibbla, which had stained-glass windows behind it.

Leaving the Mosque, we headed towards the Grand Bazaar, stopping first to indulge in some Turkish ice cream. This was unlike any other ice cream I had ever eaten: it wasn’t really cold, it wasn’t soft or hard, and it wasn’t creamy. Instead, it was chewy. Yes, chewy. It almost tasted like a slightly softer, slightly colder taffy. It wasn’t super chewy, but you couldn’t lick it. People serve it by using a spade/paddle and cutting off a chunk then dumping it in a cone. When the ice cream and the spade are still connected, the cone can be spun upside down and everything stays in place.

The Grand Bazaar is like a New Jersey shopping mall housed in an old building with large black and white soccer flags hanging everywhere. However, the stores are arranged like those in the Moroccan and Israeli souks: everyone selling the same thing gathers together in one area. Sof, if you are interested in leather, for example, you just have to go to the leather area and everyone selling leather is conveniently located in the same aisle. This is actually how most of the shopping in Istanbul is set up. Very near to our hotel, we found a street with stores selling art supplies and stationary. Other sections were musical instruments and car stereos.

The bazaar was pretty busy and we didn’t stay that long. Instead, we headed across the Galata Bridge to the newer European side of Istanbul. The Galata Bridge crosses the Golden Horn, which is a river that feeds into the Bosphorus (which divides Europe and Asia). This means there are three parts of Istanbul: the Asian side (where our plane arrived), the newer European side, and the older European side (where we were staying). The Galata Bridge is the closest Golden Horn bridge to the Bosphorus, a 20 minute walk from our hotel.

The blue bridge is multi-leveled. The upper level is for cars. The lower level houses restaurants and bars, but only on the parts closer to land. In the center, you have to go up to the car level so as to leave enough space for boats to pass underneath. The restaurants and bars all sell the same things: fish fish and more fish! We never ate at them, but the waiters talked to us as we passed by.

On the other side of the Galata Bridge, we walked up the hill, passed the Galata Tower and into the Tünel neighborhood. Along this road is where the juice guys hang out. There were five or six stands selling fresh squeezed juice and I’m pretty sure I had at least one glass a day. (Thinking more about it….I did. I had one glass of grapefruit juice each day.)

From Tünel, we followed the tram tracks and Istiklal Street to Taksim, the large, central plaza in the newer European part of Istanbul. The street is full of shopping: lots of big names and international brands. We went into an English-language bookstore and looked around without buying anything. (We went back later and bought stuff though.)

On our way back across the bridge we stopped for some “fish bread.” Three docked boats serve up sandwiches of lettuce, onion and half a grilled fish. You walk up to the boat, pay and get your sandwich then go sit down on little tables in front of the boat. I used my fork to eat the fish off my sandwich. It was tasty and the ambiance was great: we were outside in the sun surrounded by tons of people.

Tuesday, day two, we went to the Aya Sofia, the building which served as our reason for going to the city in the first place. We had both studied it in our art history classes and both of us were dying to see it. It was originally built as a church in the 4^th century. Justinian rebuilt it in the 6^th century as the largest church in the world. In 1453, when the Mehmed II conquered the city, the church was converted into mosque. Atatürk turned it into a museum in the 1930s, which is why we were able to visit it today. It is a huge building Inside, it was dark with high ceilings. We were able to go up to the second floor where we could see some of the original Byzantine mosaics. Everything about the building was enormous. The floors were marble slabs, some 15 feet in length. The doors were absolutely huge, probably 25-30 feet high. I’m really glad I finally got to see the building after all these years.

Next up on our tour of the city was a cruise down the Bosphorus. We boarded a boat and sailed by palaces, the Bosphorus bridge (connecting Europe and Asia), coastal neighborhoods, a fortification wall (on the European side) and yahs, which are privately-owned summer residences (aka mansions). We really wanted to see these because we both read Istanbul: Memories of the City by Orhan Pamuk and he talked a lot about the yahs. During his childhood (the 60s and into the 70s), many of the wooden yahs went up in flames. There are still some today, but they’re next to brand-new concrete structures. Some of the mansions were quite opulent, having things like parking places for yachts and such.

The cruise lasted 90 minutes. Afterwards, we went to the Spice Market (aka the Egyptian Bazaar), bought some fruit and juice and walked back to the hotel. At the market we tried a fruit which looked like a white blackberry. It didn’t really taste like anything and made my mouth pinch, so didn’t buy any. The other fruit Jess got to taste was like a green nectarine. It was smaller than a normal nectarine and green like a Granny Smith apple. I couldn’t try it because I knew I would be allergic. The guy tried to give me on and I had to explain my allergies. He told me not to eat it because, “this would be dangerous for you.”

Wednesday morning we went back to the Blue Mosque to take some more pictures. Afterwards we went to the Topkapi Palace where the sultans lived and ruled from 1462 until the 19^th century (when they moved to another palace). We wandered through chambers and treasuries containing the sultans’ jewels and gifts. One case in particular was striking because it contained a jewelry box full of emeralds. The sign next to it said something to the tune of, “emeralds.” It was as if having a case of emeralds was totally normal. The views from the palace were striking: one one side there was a view of the Bosphorus, while the other side showed the Golden Horn and the newer parts of European Istanbul.

After our tour around the palace, we went and met up with Nicki for coffee. She and I had interned together a few summers ago. She lives in Istanbul now and works as a correspondent for an online media outlet. She took us to a place where they make amazing Turkish coffee. It almost tasted like chocolate, which was unexpected. Turkish coffee is made in a way that the grinds are still in the cup. It sounds like it would be disgusting, but it’s actually quite delicious, and this one was especially good. After coffee we walked back to Nicki’s apartment. She lives in a five story walk-up just across from the Galata Tower. She has three balconies and a view of all the major monuments in the city, and both rivers.

After relaxing on her balcony for a while, Jess and I went to a restaurant she had recommended. It was on the sixth floor at an unmarked entrance. She had told us to just go in and take the elevator; when we came out, we were in the restaurant. They had menus in English, but it seemed like we were the only people there who needed them. The waiter was really helpful and studied my allergy paper several times and spoke to the chef. We tried raki which is a fruit-based liquor kind of like grappa, but stronger and anis flavored. You have to dilute it to drink it, which we did. I ordered fried eggplant with yogurt sauce and Jess got a cassarole of potatoes, mushrooms, peppers, and cheese. We also split grilled trout which came with more potatoes and veggies. Everything was delicious. After dinner we walked back across the Galata Bridge and saw the city lit up.

For our last day in Istanbul, we went to the Istanbul Modern, an art museum featuring contemporary works predominantly by Turkish artists. I wasn’t overwhelmed by the Turkish artists, but did find some works pleasing and interesting. My favorite exhibit – I think the artist was Danish – was a series of photographs of people’s apartments. The photographer went to the all the apartments in one building and photographed their living rooms to show the similarities and differences between them. She did this in several cities and arranged the photos accordingly. As I walked through, I tried to imagine which apartment I would live in. The other thing I liked at the museum was the library. An artist had taken books and suspended them from the ceiling with wire. The books were meant to be a selection of European and Asian titles to show the dual-influence on the city.

For lunch we ate Doner kebab. Meat or chicken is cooked on a vertical rotisserie and then shaved off and put into a pita with pickles and tomatoes. I chose chicken but couldn’t finish it, so Jess ate the rest. I thought I could just eat the chicken out of my kebab, but I wasn’t really that into it. It made me feel a little nauseous.

On our way back down to the Galata Bridge, we walked by the Neve Shalom Synagogue, the largest in Istanbul. It was built in 1951 and sustained a terrorist attach in 1986 and a car bomb during a Bar Mitzvah in 2003. The building was closed and only marked by Stars of David on its window grates.

For our last night we ate dinner out. I ordered more fried eggplant and a stuffed eggplant (with peppers, onions, and zucchini). Yes, I was craving eggplant. Jess got a salad with chicken and she ate this huge puffy bread thing we had seen all over the city. Imagine a giant, oval-shaped pita which is hallow inside. We went back to the hotel to prepare our stuff for leaving.

We want to write Orhan (Pamek) some criticisms, namely the dogs vs. cats thing. He had written about the plethora of wild dogs running through the streets of the city, but we counted many more cats than dogs. We’re not sure if this is because we were mostly on the older European side and he lived on the newer one. Also, he talked about the melancholy of Istanbul and we saw it as much more alive than melancholic. This may be because we were there in the summertime.

I also forgot to mention the grilled corn. You can get boiled or grilled corn on many street corners. Because corn is a safe food for me I had it every day. It was cheap and made a great snack. As a result, I am sick of corn.