After a week of long, boring days at work and heavy pressure to get two days off we headed to Istanbul. This trip to Istanbul really gave meaning to the title European Capital of Culture … (http://www.en.istanbul2010.org/HABER/GP_592834)
Day One
We boarded the train to Istanbul early Friday morning and arrived at Haydarpasa (the train station) around 10am and boarded the ferry. Although, I had seen the city from the Borphorus only weeks before it still took my breath away. The crowded tram also took my breath away - and not in a good way. Arriving in Sultanamet - the old city, we went to our hostel - aptly named the Old City Hostel to check in and drop off our bags. We had breakfast at a cafe next to the hostel and started to plan out the day.
After fuelling up on omelettes and Nescafe, we started our sightseeing at the Basilica Cistern that was only a stones throw away from our hostel. The cistern looks like nothing from the outside so it is understandable how this underground reservoir was undiscovered for decades. This cistern is just one of the many underground reservoir that were built in the Roman period and used throughout the Ottoman period. I was amazed by the sheer size of the cistern - it is beautiful and massive, which can be explained by the fact that the cistern was a basilica in the 4th and 5th century and later converted into a basilica in the 6th century. The construction of the Basilica Cistern is impressive as it is so large and entirely underground. It looks perfectly preserved - although there has been little restoration to the cistern in the 18th century and later in the 20th century. The cistern opened to the public in 1987 - it is difficult to wrap your head around the reality that such a remarkable structure only was revealed to the public fourteen centuries after its construction. I did not expect to be blown away by the cistern - but I was. It was eerie and beautiful - and impossible to not imagine how it was used, who it was used by and the importance of it. Of course, it had an obvious function but as we have observed there is nothing in Istanbul that has a only a functional purpose.
Post-cistern experience we headed to the Grand Bazaar. I was ready to be heckled and in constant fear of being pickpocketed - none of which happened. The Grand Bazaar was not as overwhelming as I had expected. The best bargaining tool was having limited use of Turkish and explaining that we were living in Izmit. I also thought that I would be overwhelmed by the purchasing possibilities and that too did not happen. I saw the coveted gypsy pants hanging in the open - it was like an omen. I refrained from including them in my wardrobe because it is definitely Autumn and no longer gypsy pant weather. The most overwhelming experience of the Grand Bazaar was to watch shops close and vendors rush into the corridors of the bazaar at the call to prayer. The corridors were lined with hundreds of Muslim men participating in formal prayer. It was an unexplainable cultural experience that I will never forget and anticipate partaking in again and again. With fingers crossed, next time I will be witness to seeing Muslim women do the same - I am not holding my breath though.
We must have caught the bazaar bug because we headed to the Spice Bazaar next. Well, we wandered the streets for quite some tilt me looking for a washroom and the Spice Bazaar. Jayson, being the navigator he is found the Spice Bazaar. It was exactly what you would think it is. Spices, spices and more spices. It was a whole lotto smells in there. In addition to spices, there is tea, nuts, the typical Turkish souvenirs and illegit perfumes. Although, every vendor thinks you must buy saffron we easily resisted and settled with some Turkish desserts filled with walnuts and pistachios. We really only purchased them so that we could take pictures of the signs that advertised "Turkish viagra; 40 times in one night!". It is some kind of dried fruit (which I think is prune) and walnuts. I am skeptical of it's alleged medical properties - we all know the power of prunes.
Yep, now that I reflect on it - we did indeed catch the bazaar bug. We went to the book bazaar after, which was really more of a university book shop. I spotted some English books and resisted with everything I have to not purchase - they are pricey! But, oh so interesting. Almost every stall had some display of Qur'ans or Korans - which looked like ancient artifacts. We saw the Twilight trilogy and the literature of Ron L. Hubbard. I was aware that the allure of Edward Cullen held no physical boundaries but I was unaware that Scientology was big in Turkey. We had seen the bazaars of the old city and needed to people watch. We found a cafe, sat back, drank a beer and took in the sights of tourists and Turks.
With tired legs and the taste of Efes lingering, we headed back to the hostel. We were excited to meet other travellers and head up to the rooftop patio for conversation and drinks. Antonio, one of the hostel employees acted as bartender for us. We listened to music and had great conversation. Other travellers came up to the rooftop to join; two from Canada, two from Brazil, one from Columbia and one from new Zealand. The interaction and exchange between travellers is so fascinating; everyone is interested in one another and everyone genuinely gets along well. One of the Canadians was from Oakville - such a small world! We exchanged thoughts and opinions of Oakville and the routine "Do you know this person?". I was completely unaware of time and just enjoying myself, my surroundings and the people in them. Maybe enjoying myself a little too much as I was ready for bed long before the rest of them.
Day Two
After extreme hydrating due to the night before, we quickly got ready and headed out for another day of sightseeing. Not prepared to spend a small fortune on breakfast - I asked the hostel staff to point us in the direction of cheap breakfast. We went into the convenience store across the street and paid less than 5 lira for breakfast … for two! We took our breakfast (buns with hard-boiled eggs, cheese, cucumber and tomatoes) to a park bench across from the Blue Mosque. It was relatively peaceful and enjoyable - with the exception of Jayson's extreme irritation caused by the stray cats circling in on us. We had cay (tea) at a cafe attached to the Blue Mosque - where I would swear it's existence predates the mosque itself. We had some time to kill because we were waiting for some of the travellers from the hostel to go see the Blue Mosque. We found a mausoleum in between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia to visit. It was the first time I had to take off my shoes and cover my hair! I've been in Turkey for five weeks and had been heavily anticipating this moment! The mausoleum was of course, beautiful. I stood in envy of visiting the mausoleum who felt an emotional attachment to those inside of the tombs for purposes of religion and or nationalism.
On to the Hagia Sophia we were. I am not sure if it is even possible to explain the grandeur of the Hagia Sophia or the feeling once you enter it. First of all, you fall victim to investigating everything inside - even a crack in the marble floor. Is that crack of cultural importance? Does it mean something more than it looks? How did it happen? When did it happen? Well, it is what it is - a crack in the marble. Once you overcome that (which I am not sure if I did), you can only try to take in the sights around you - which really you need to be a cyclops with an extra eye. Above the main entrance of the Hagia Sofia is a Christian mosaic of Jesus and then you walk in further to see Arabic proverbs. You hear Turkey to be a clash of culture and civilization and the Hagia Sofia illustrates that reality better than anywhere. With no attachment to religion myself - I felt goosebumps from entry to exit to be in a place that held such power for Christians and Muslims for centuries. I also found it amazing that it is visibly noticeable that this was once a church and then converted into a mosque. It is amazing because the remnants and indicators of Christianity were left undestroyed - which I can only explain by a deep respect for religion. It made me reflect on the relationship between Christianity and Islam in present day. Considering my surroundings maybe I shouldn't have been cursing as much as I was, but I'm in the Hagia Sofia - the most opulent place on I've been to thus far and what happens? My freaking camera dies. Now that I'm reflecting on my intense frustration maybe some of those choice words weren't just in my head …
The plan was to head to the Blue Mosque after the Hagia Sofia - but I was not prepared to visit yet another UNESCO World Heritage site sans camera. We stopped off at the hostel to charge my camera and broke for lunch. Neither of us were feeling too hot all week so we were trying to be extremely careful with our menu choices. I studied the menu ten times over and each time I was prepared to order the waiter told me "sorry, don't have". By the third time or so, I was said his usual line before he got the chance and he responded "no we have, nine out of ten really don't like". I was so amused, I almost wanted to order it. I ended up siding with the nine others. After a solid charging period, we headed to the Blue Mosque … again. Between the two trips to Istanbul, we have been around the grounds of the Blue Mosque more than anywhere else and still hadn't ventured in. We entered the oh so familiar courtyard and just tried to take it all in. In the main courtyard there is an entrance rightfully reserved for Muslims and on the right side of the mosque for visitors. The separate entrances highlight such an interesting paradigm; while the experience is breathtaking in so many regards, it is a tourist attraction for the majority but for the minority, the mosque remains to be a sacred place for daily worship. I was surprisingly taken aback by the division of the mosque. Of course, I had expected for men to be pay worship at the front of the mosque and women at the back of the mosque. I did not expect that the women in worship would actually be behind the visitors - I thought that it would be men, women and then visitors at the back of the mosque. I felt a range of emotions during the visit but awkward was definitely one of them, although it was not my first experience in a mosque. It felt awkward because the division of people in the mosque felt like an unspoken hierarchy - where I felt that I should not be snapping pictures and tripping over my jaw in the middle of the men and women in the midst of worship. I also felt awkward because I got caught some of the glares being directed to some of the visitors who were being loud or obnoxious and was hoping that I wasn't being categorized as one of them. I just wanted to interrupt and try to put into words how beautiful my surroundings were, and more importantly how beautiful it was to witness the act of worship. Then the inevitable happened … Jayson's camera died. We left the Blue Mosque in a quasi daze from what the afternoon had provided us with. We wandered around for a little without aim and then started to make our way to the port to catch the ferry to Haydarpasa. On our walk over, we were lured into "Cappadocia Rugs" by a famous salesman for "information" about rugs. WE read right through "information". Nonetheless, we accepted the elma cay (apple tea) and started critiquing carpets and kilims from across Turkey. On our first visit to Istanbul, we visited an ethnography exhibit which focused on the importance of carpets and kilims in understanding the culture of various groups, especially those nomadic in nature and the movement and evolution of these groups. While these carpets and kilims were not included in an ethnography exhibit, our salesman was explaining the richness of the culture that can be found in any of these must have souvenirs. Of course, there are certain techniques and styles which belong to certain areas of Turkey but to my surprise he explained that some of the inclusions are personal to the carpet or kilim maker. For example, one of the rugs from east Turkey had the letter "S" found throughout it's pattern and he explained that sometimes this is included to represent the feelings of the girl at the time. The letter "s" represents "seni seviyorum" or "I love you". There was some heavy bargaining to follow but of course, we headed to the train station without a carpet or kilim in tow.
We boarded the ferry along the Bosphorus at perfect timing - sunset. We sat outside, watched the sunset and the magnificent city slowly start to fade. Obviously, I'm counting the second, minutes and hours until I am in Istanbul next.
