After many hours, 2 plane rides with a 4 hour layover and a taxi we arrived at our hostel 18 hours later. We were both very tired and stuffed on somewhat edible airplane food, so we took a nap, had a little our first turkish dinner, then went straight back to bed. No surprises on our flights which is a good thing.
Then upon waking up at 11am jet lagged, we headed out into the city of Istanbul on a chilly, overcast day. We started walking on down the hill to the Bosphorus, with the plan to head over the bridge into Sultanahmet which is the area that contains all the big tourist attractions. Grabbing some fresh pomegranate juice and a doughnut looking piece of bread with sesame seeds on it for breakfast. The streets here are pretty much like most European cities, but the buildings seem to be a little run down here. Not in a "I'm scared I will be robbed" way, but more in a "isn't this romantic, charming and old" way. A city I could truly fall in love with.
As we reached the water we saw a row of fish mongers selling the days catch. So we sidestepped off our track and went down to the water to check out today's goods. While we were walking we were propositioned by an old fisherman to take a ride on his boat up and down the Bosphorus and into the Golden Horn, the historic harbor that is a reason Istanbul became so prosperous. Me being a bit more weary and Stu being the brave one, we decided to give him a go.
Much friendlier than this picture indicates... seriously.
And boy was the ride great! We could see everything! All the beautiful mosques of Istanbul, fishing boats, parks along the river, a large cemetery, and beautiful multi-colored houses. It was a wonderful ride. The old man even let me sit up front and drive for a bit. The boat was a little tricky to control as it was old, and rickety, and the steering was practically non responsive, but I didn't crash, and we made it back to the port.
Jen's new toy.
We tried to go to Haghia Sophia, and again, we were side tracked. How could you say no to shopping in the grand bazaar? We ate Turkish delights, I bought a bit of tea and Stu took a few pictures.
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Haghia Sophia was incredible. I am unable to describe the grandness of this ancient building. I have absolute admiration for the people who built such a huge structure so long ago, and with no cranes, no electricity and no power tools. This was the building I had studied so many times in art history during college and to finally see it come to life was a pin in the map of the many places i have always planned to see. The Sophia is unique in the sense that it was built under a Christian ruler in 360 AD, but when Constantinople was conquered and turned into Istanbul around the 14th Century, it was converted to display Islamic murals. There lies an interesting contrast in the unearthed mosaics and a vast amount of history.
A 100 foot (31m) diameter and 160 feet (48m)
Then we were off to the Basilica Cistern which was and underground water collector that was built in 532AD. It was to collect the water from nearby Borad mountains and stored it for the inhabitants of the city as clean drinking water. This site was nothing like I expected. I was in awe at the sheer size, the quiet dripping beauty of the sounds, and the columns lined up straight like soldiers in every direction. The cistern served the populations water needs, but was lost to civilization when the Ottoman conquerors came through town in the 12th Century AD. It was not until several hundred years later after locals had been gaining access to fresh water by dropping buckets through holes in their basement, did they rediscover the Basilica.
As we emerged out of the darkness, and got our bearings, we finally headed towards the Blue Mosque. And again, as usual, we got side tracked by food. Damn, it was 4 PM and all we had was some bread and juice. We grabbed a quick bite at a little cafe and again headed off to the blue mosque. As we arrived we were greeted by multiple large domes, and minarets jutting into the gray sky. Blaring from a loudspeaker was a prayer song, which was an indirect way of telling us we are not welcome at this time because one of the five prayers held there during the day was taking place. So we hung out in the courtyard, went and saw the Hippodrome, the remnants of a chariot race stadium that contained a 2,000 year old Egyptian obelisk.
Came back and were ushered in to this gargantuan building by a guide. The building had colorful regional Iznik tile work all over it, as well as hundreds of different patterns covering all the space available on the walls.
Well as we found out, the guide was not a guide, but a well groomed salesman (not head-o-bread above) who wanted to take us to a shop behind the blue mosque after giving us a brief tour, in the old horse stables from the Hippodrome, to sell us rugs. That was a learning experience to say the least. We were ushered into a show room, given tea and coffee, and shown rugs that were thousands of dollars. I tried to bargain the guy down as much as possible, but like my mother I seem to have expensive taste because everything I choose was over a thousand dollars. No rugs until I get a job again was what Stu and I decided on. :(
So after our rug expedition, Stu with the appetite of a camel, and Jen with a longing for rugs, we found a quaint dinner spot and had . We then walked back to the hotel where we again blew a fuse for the 2nd time, and crashed for the night.
Tomorrow....... Turkish baths!