We arrived in istanbul yesterday afternoon via ferry from yalova. we wanted to sit in the front of the ferry so we could see the city as we approached the dock, but our tickets had assigned seating and we ended up in the VERY back row facing the opposite direction. we still had a nice view. from the ferry dock you could see the domes and minerets of the blue mosque and the highest dome of the aya sofya. these are things i have waited my whole life to see! the walk to our hostel was about 1.5+ miles from the ferry terminal and with our awkward packing and heavy stuff we decided a taxi would be the best bet. we asked a taxi person THREE TIMES how much the ride would be and he said 10 YTL and we confirmed that with him three times. we then also confirmed this with the taxi driver. first he tried to just drive us to the aya sofya istead of our hostel and after lots of explanations and pointing he took us grudgingly to our hostel. monica popped out right away and unloaded our stuff from the trunk and lo and behold the taxi fare mystery rose from 10 YTL to 30 in the space of a 10 min ride. i told the guy no and he wouldnt even take the 10 YTL i was offering and started yelling at me in turkish so i was about to literally throw the money in his face when a cafe owner came over, told him off, paid the difference in the fare and offered us free tea. he said the driver was an asshole which we agreed with and apologized for him. after tea and checking in to our hostel (which is a great place by the way!) we headed up to the blue mosque to look around. we passed a shop and the owner stuck his head out and stated "i want to join you!" mon and i were suspicious and he said oh come back later so we continued. just as we were approaching the mosque he ran up all out of breath and said he was on a lunch break. he took us to the mosque and ended up be a really nice guy named ibrahim who worked as a guide in the summer so he knew lots about the mosque and other stuff in the area. for instance the blue mosque is called such because there are exactly 555 different shades of blue in the tile work on the inside. cool fact! the inside of the mosque was absolutely cavernous and the artwork was so detailed on the ceilings and arches. lots of arabic calligraphy, which i think lots like art itself, incorporated into the tile work as well. he also took us to the hippodrome with egyptian, byzantine, roman and german monuments, all gifts to the sultan of the ottoman empire and other earlier leaders. one of the monuments was a snake statue surrounded by a pit into which criminals were tossed with a lovely mixture of snakes, scorpions and lions. after this he had to actually eat lunch so he left us to wander back to the aya sofya. we were wandering innocently about when an annoying carpet salesmen chased us down after we attempted to ignore him. we said we were students so he stopped trying to sell us things right away and offered us free tea. fine. we got tea and then pizza and then baklava and were offered beer and an assortment of other foods and drinks and i thought maybe we were being fattened up for sacrifice. i thought i could even hear them building our cages in the next room. he showed us some $65000 silk carpets that took 7 years to make. they were amazing- the details of the animals and birds and the colors and they were so soft! he claimed he had a $6 million one that stayed in the store always but we didnt see it. he then insisted on taking us to a museum in the fatih district to which we promptly answered no but then he made us feel bad because he had already ordered our museum tickets and paid for them. fine. on the way he showed us his 6 stores and 3 restaurants and ordered people around. he took us in one store to give us a key chain and then gave us cashmere scarves and then said oh you can actually trade them for these other ones which we also liked and then he just gave the other ones to us too. we tried to give them back but he insisted. at each store he would just throw money at the clerk and whisk us out. this is when we realized that he was probably the godfather of the carpet mafia. the museum he took us to was incredilbe. mosaics with gold and frescoes depicting biblical scenes from the 1100s in an old church turned mosque and then back to a church. the museum was really expensive, but godfather paid of course. oh he also bought us some tiles. he also coerced a hotel clerk into letting us use their bathroom. it was really nice of him to do all this and we really think he just wanted some people to talk to cause he kept complaining that his business took his social life away but seriously. enough is enough. he told us he was taking us to dinner and we said no and really no no no no no because we had to "meet friends" and he finally let us go. that was a ridiculous episode. we were really confused for awhile last night about this whole thing. needless to say we are avoiding his street for the rest of our stay. after this we sat infront of the blue mosque and watched the sunset and a crescent moon peaked out of the clouds right about the highest dome with a little star next to it just like the turkish flag. the aya sofya and the blue mosque are all lit up after dark so it was gorgeous. the blue mosque is such an imposing building and then you turn around and there is the aya sofya. this town is amazing. on every hill there is another clump of domes and minerets though none of them as impressive as the blue mosque. last night we met up again with shannon and marshall for the last time and walked to a modern part of the city for drinks. on our way back we were accosted by the cafe owner, colin, who had saved us from the taxi driver and he bought us beers. he is now giving us a creeper vibe so we have taken to using emergency exits and the hostel's cafe to avoid him. we are sick of this. anywho, our first day in istanbul was definitely exciting!
today we got fish sandwiches on the golden horn and walked through the grand bazaar, which everyone warned us was crazy and dangerous, but in fact didnt really impress us after egypt and syria. it seemed a bit too mallish to us. i did buy some earrings and a turkey shirt for cheap though. we then ventured to the spice market and ate too much turkish delight. on our way back to the hostel we discovered a free art exhibit of modern mural-type art on a little back street and perused that and chatted with the artist for a bit. it was a great find, really nice artwork. mon bought some posters from him. tonight we are avoiding colin some more and seeing quantum of solace at 9pm. we are stoked. it should be great and we made sure it was in english and not dubbed over. tomorrow we are going to visit topkapi palace and the aya sofya and then wander again.
