Weekend One: Istanbul
Dragging our luggage through the streets of Istanbul after seventeen hours of travelling wasn't the ideal introduction to the capital of culture. So, after six days in Izmit we were all over the opportunity to go to Istanbul for the weekend. FIve Turkish liras and two hours later we were in Istanbul. From the train station all of us took a ferry into the Golden Horn area of the Bosphorus. I don't have the vocabulary to explain how surreal the feeling was to see the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia. I immediately felt cultured!
Of course, that feeling faded once I stepped off of the ferry to clutch my purse like I was the most paranoid tourist in the city (it is likely that I was) and took pictures of everything and absolutely nothing. As we were walking into the city (read: up one hill and another and another) I had a new found appreciation for Birkenstocks. We started the day off with a trip to a art museum recommended by our friend Ozzy. The museum had a media art exhibit that was badass. There was an installation that produced images via scent. There were perfumes for you to spray on sheets of paper and hold up to plastic flowers and the flower bloomed and butterflies floated around. Jayson tried his own aroma - his armpit and mouth to the flowers. Very interactive. There was also Wii consoles - I am just as horrible at Mario Cart in Turkey as I am in Sarah & Katie's living room. The art exhibits were really amazing - the depiction of Istanbul and Turkish women throughout the centuries by Western artists made me so envious of everyone in still in university.
Post-museum we walked around the city - I felt almost disoriented. I was thinking am I in the West or the East? Clash of civilizations, indeed. And just like that a true marker of civilization appeared before my very eyes - Starbucks! I attempted the mental translation of quad, grande skinny vanilla latte and then settled for an iced americano. I basked in the air conditioned once second home of mine and enjoyed every sip of heaven. Then off in search of food we went - not that is was difficult to find but when you're surrounded by deliciousness one can easily become indecisive. I was sold when we found a restaurant/cafe that had a baked potato bar.
It was like a figment of my imagination but they exist in Turkey! You just point to what you want on your potato and enjoy. I didn't quite understand the procedure and just pointed to what I thought was a picture of baked potato - I ended up with french fries and donair chicken in a hot dog bun. I vowed to myself that I was not leaving without devouring one of those potatoes.
We walked and walked off my heart attack in a bun and went to ? by the sea (I was informed by Jay that it was where Ali from the Bachorlette had one of her dates). It was unreal. A maze of narrow streets lined with adorable cafes and vendors. Oh, the jewellery! We all sat and enjoyed some Efes. It was fuel to the fire - we moved on to find a cheap bar and that we did. We went to a rooftop dive bar with good classic rock and cheap, cheap drinks. We stayed for the better part of the afternoon and were joined by other interns. The general consensus was to find a place to go and dance. On the way we all tried mussels from a street vendor. Jayson was shocked to find me eating them as I was appalled earlier in the day by how unsanitary they must be - when in Rome!
All of us went to the nightclub and didn't stay too long. Ten lira for a beer? Not feeling it or the year old top forty music. We all gathered in Taksim Square to figure out our next move - but with twenty odd travellers making a decision takes time. So, one of the Russian interns Sergey and I went on a hunt for one thing and one thing only … the baked potato. It was amazing, too big but amazing. After half of my potato all I wanted was bed. Instead, we went to a rock bar. I mean rock, like heavy metal rock. I've never really felt so out of place - but at least this time it wasn't because of my eye colour. Jayson and I sat and drank tea - we definitely looked ten times our age.
At dawn we went back to our friends apartment. The Turkish are not on the same page as the Canadians in terms of measuring distance. We were told that the apartment was "not so far". It was almost a twenty minute mini bus cab ride and a fifteen minute walk to the apartment. It felt like infinity until I was going to be able to sleep. And, it almost was - the second I closed my eyes the mosque one street over started the call to prayer.
We slept in late without regret because it was raining. We took the metro into the city and were ready to brave the Grand Bazaar. I was eager to find gypsy pants and a red pashmina - I'm still waiting, because it was closed. We went around the city and took pictures instead but with my luck my camera battery died. We met up with some of the other interns that were still in Istanbul at the Blue Mosque. We didn't go in because of the hoards of people - our first sight of the Blue Mosque fell on Ramazan and the day that Mohammed went into the sky to speak to Allah. We figure that it will be best to visit when the worshipping and the tourists aren't so plentiful. We checked out the museum across from the ground of the Blue Mosque. It wasn't the most fascinating museum I've come across - with the exception of the ethnography exhibit.
We parted ways with some of our group and started our journey back home. We made it to the train station with about three minutes to spare and we all did a serious sprint to make the train - I cursed the entire time. We ended up making the train and sat in our seats. It was a little room on the train with seats and beds - just like the movies. Then a man and his entire family told us we weren't where we were supposed to be. Should have known. After pacing the entire train a few times - we found our seats and slept until we reached Izmit … or, I guess now, home.
Weekend Two: Izmir
This past Wednesday was the end of Ramazan - which means the end of the drummer boy parading the streets in the middle of the night! It also means Bayram ?, a two day holiday which luckily fell on Thursday and Friday this year. All the Turks travel to their hometowns and visit with friends and family. Since our hometown is a little far and we don't have family in the country - we thought we'd embrace the holiday by travelling with friends. On a religious holiday where else to go but the Ibiza of Turkey.
So, Nacho (Chilean and not his real name), Sakiko (Japanese, obviously), Daniella (Brazilian), Omar (Egyptian) and the Canadians (Jay and me) left for Izmir Wednesday night to arrive at 8am Thursday morning. The bus wasn't as bad as I expected - the worst part was the little bow-tied man patrolling the bus. It was amusing that he didn't know that we were making fun of him, or maybe he did but how offended can you be if you don't know what is being said?
We arrived in Izmir on time - which I do have to commend the Turks on their punctuality (knock on wood). I was a little worried as we got off the bus. This was supposed to be in the Ibiza of Turkey and I'm not seeing the sea anywhere - even with my glasses. While we were waiting for our shuttle Jay spat on the ground because he was getting sick and had a sore throat. A Turkish man with Spongebob sock pulled up to his mid-shin and sandals started screaming at Jay for spitting on the ground. It was outside and blended quite well to all the garbage the Turks throw anywhere but a garbage can. We were all trying to apologize and Jay was trying to explain with hand actions that he was sick. The man reciprocated with his own hand actions and started pushing Jay and Omar around. It was really funny when it was over. As we were taking the shuttle into the city centre and I was getting increasingly worried. All the AIESECers were saying that Izmir is so beautiful and their favourite place in Turkey. At this point I'm thinking that we're staying in the slums of Izmir or I've been lied to. We found our hotel with relative ease - we were greeted with breakfast and better than expected accommodation. We all passed out at the sight of the beds.
After waking up, we went to the seaside with the help of the Lonely Planet guidebook. I didn't believe that there was a seaside until I saw it. It was beautiful. We all decided that we should take a break from kebabs and donair. We went to a upscale restaurant on the waters edge that had glassware and linen napkins - trust me, there is great enjoyment in a linen napkin over your lap after eating in restaurants that don't have paper products of any kind. We picked out our fish and a bottle of wine for the table. We sat and enjoyed our meal, the view and our conversations. After leaving the restaurant with the fear that we'd be charged if we stayed any longer - we wandered around the seaside. Still without my sought after gypsy pants and red pashmina we all decided that some cheap retail therapy would be perfect.
At the advice of the waiter we went to Konak Pier for shopping. Staying true to my new found frugal lifestyle it was evident that nothing was in my price range. I drooled over the Marc Jacobs and Jimmy Choo … and then I saw them. Christian Louboutins?. I held them for as long as I could before I felt an anxiety attack approaching because I could not bring them home with me (I settled for a two lira laundry basket at the market the next day). We headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner - not the classiest of places but you can get whatever you want and even what you don't want. Omar asked for "white pasta", the hotel manager/waiter said "no white pasta but we can". So as were sitting waiting for our dinner, we see two of the hotel staff getting into the shuttle to go on a voluntary hunt for white pasta. We thought it was so cute that they would do that. All of our meals came and Omar's was last to be served. He was served a whole cake for his dinner. In Turkish, pasta means cake. The proud smile of the hotel manager/waiter immediately turned to confusion as we all burst into laughter. We all had a slice of dessert with our dinner and the necessary carbs for the night ahead.
We returned to our lounge area - because we were the only guests in the hotel and had routine drinks before going to Rain nightclub which was right on the sea. When ready to go out, we all (6 of us) piled into the cab. Our logic of going to the Ibiza of Turkey during the religious holiday was spot on. It was open bar - and we made sure to get every lira worth. We (the girls) ended up dancing in the dj booth throughout the night. We drank and danced until we couldn't do much of either and headed back home. Considering the looks and laughter we got from the hotel staff in the morning we must have been prettttttttty amusing on our return to the hotel.
The next day we had a much needed sleep in. We toured around the city a little bit to the famous clock tower and square. We also went back to the market to wander the narrow packed streets full of counterfeit goods. We got dondurma - Turkish ice cream to complete our ultimate tourist look. We wandered down to the pier to have dinner at sunset. We headed back to the hotel with the idea of going out but didn't do much.
The next day we headed to Cesme - about an hour or so outside of Izmir. We were drinking beers in the back of the shuttle. Its run of mill behaviour in Turkey. I felt like a rebel. The drive up to Cesme was beautiful. We stopped for picnic supplies. We got to the beach, found beach chairs and took in the sights around us. We were looking out to the sea to Greece. We swam and chilled all day. We headed back to the hotel around nine - all tired from the sun. We also didn't do anything that night.
Another sleep in on Sunday morning. We got up and had lentil soup for lunch - no complaints from me. We headed over to the fairgrounds and went on a rollercoaster that gave me some serious whip lash and a haunted castle ride that I closed my eyes for. There was music playing from the swinging boat ride that went like this ... "sex, sex sex on the beach". Everyone was clapping along and laughing - I guess ignorance really is bliss. Especially knowing that the premise of most Turkish songs are about children, love, marriage ... and having children while married. After we went to check out the museum of art and culture. It was interesting because the majority of artifacts were from the area - even some from Izmit. We went to a rooftop terrace for dinner where a little boy was shaking my hand and then kissing the back of my hand and pressing it to his forehead. I thought it was cute until I realized it means you owe him money.
We headed back to the hotel to get our bags and say bye to the adorable pooch there. We got on the shuttle and the driver started asking us where we were from. We went through the countries and when get said Japan, the driver just started laughing and said "JAP-ON??" and laughed more. We thought it was hilarious but Sakiko didn't. We arrived at the bus station after a little traffic and got on our coach. I slept and drooled without shame the entire ride home. Some things don't change no matter where you are ...
