on our 2nd day in istanbul we met no godfathers and avoided all other male attention by making faces and whiny sounds whenever someone talked to us. it worked! salesmen would just snap their mouths shut before a full sentence even got out. we were able to meet up again with shannon and marshall for one last day together and mostly wandered around the bazaars. we got so many warnings about the grand bazaar and how it was so crowded and it was very unsafe for women and blah blah but compared to the markets in cairo and aleppo it was a mall. wide walkways, covered, no animals or cars, shops with glass display windows, a food court, even a flat screen tv with commercials in one section. it was still interesting to see all the wares available for sale and i could see that it would be much more hectic in the high season. we also explored the spice market which was more what we were used to. pretty much every stall had the same variety of orange, green, yellow and red mounds of spices, dried fruits and nuts, "turkish viagra" (apricots stuffed with almonds), and heaps and heaps of sugared turkish delight. turkish delight is a gummy candy usually coated with powdered sugar and flavored with any number of fruits or flowers and sometimes with pistachios. my favorite was the fruit blend (lemon, lime, pear, rose, orange and something red). every stall gave out free samples of it and i bought an additional handful of the stuff so by the time we were out i had a stomach and head ache, but was otherwise happily digesting heaps of gummy candies. we also headed to the docks near the galata bridge across the golden horn for grilled fish sandwiches which were delicious, straight off the boat and cheap (about $2). in the evening, after shannon and marshall had departed to athens on their overnight train, monica and i went to see th enew james bond movie. we were so excited we got there 30 mins early to get good seats and popcorn and accidently walked in on the end of the previous showing only to be shouted at and shoved out the door by one of the theater employees. appearantly turks dont go to movies early. we ended up being two of five people in the theater anyway and i ate all my popcorn in the lobby before we were even allowed in. needless to say we got really good seats. we both thought the movie was entertaining and good for james bond. i hear the rest of the american populace disagrees. oh well.
on the 3rd we headed first thing for the aya sofya. this was originally a byzantine church turned mosque during ottoman rule. this thing was incredible. it is huge! the central dome is so far up there! the sunlight that manages to enter the building has that dusty look i imagine common to all lofty old buildings. and there was barely anyone in it. the inside was a really interesting mix of islamic and christian religious art. christian frescoes decorated the the walls, arches and dome ceilings with various biblical scenes. in the upper gallery there were a few mosaics one of which showed jesus' face in extreme detail down to shadowing of the cheekbones and blushing in his cheeks. unfortunately the rest of the mosaic hasnt been restored so all you could really see was his face. the ceilings of upper gallery were painted with intricate flower and leaf designs in bright reds, greens and yellows. the church also has 6 30 ft diameter green discs with gold arabic calligraphy places on pillars throughout the church which actually fit right in and make the building look all the more impressive from the inside. at the far end of the church is the ornate mihrab (the thing that shows muslims which way to face towards mecca when praying) decorated with blue and gold iznik tiles (but still with the archangels and matrys right above from the byzantines). just to the left of the mihrab was a "lodge" for the sultan from which he could pray and hear sermons on fridays without having to sit amongst the stinky commoners. this thing was ridiculous. the balcony and walkway were all bordered with 3 ft high gold lattice work of the highest quality with some gold leaves and flowers thrown in for good measure. humble guy that sultan. unfortunately, the dome was being restored while we were there so we couldnt see what was painted there and there was a towering complex of scaffolding right in the middle of the church. even with that i would without any hesitation say this is definitely something everyone must see in istanbul and will for sure be a trip highlight for me. after this walked around the topkapi palace which was the residence for ottoman sultans for most of the ottoman rule. we didnt go inside because there was a large number of highschool and tour bus groups in there and it is really expensive. after wandering through the grounds, we headed to the turkish and islamic art museum. this is another must-see in my opinion. the woodwork on doors and shutters is so detailed and ornate. there were probably about 40 carpets on display, some about 50ft x 15ft. the colors and the patterns are still very well preserved and they are beautiful pieces of art. i think my favorite thing though was the ottoman and persian minatures (illustrations and calligraphy excerpts of stories in leather-bound books). the skill and time and patience that goes into making these is unimaginable! they are so detailed (i know i say that about everything, but these really were) and their bindings were just as impressive. most depict particularly brutal scenes such as hunts with fancy ottomans on horses slicing deer in half with swords and the deer's guts flying. also demons doing this or that to their victims (usually involving the tearing off of limbs and blood and guts). the calligraphy itself is also an artform worthy of appreciation; appearantly most of it is really hard to read and is produced as artwork instead of a readable manuscript. in the end it was a great day!
our last day in istanbul was more wandering and not very noteworthy except for one thing. i tried a drink called sahlep which is milky, sweet and cinnamony and supposedly thickened with orchids. it was one of the most delicious things i have ever had. you will just have to try it. the place i had it was selling it in carton mixes so i picked one up to see the ingredients and only found out that sahlep is made of milk, sugar, modified starch, and sahlep. hmmm not that helpful. im hoping i can order some mix online or find it at a mediterranean grocery store. it was good! we are now in greece and i will update you all on that tomorrow night probably.
