Turkey - Days 1-3 - Istanbul!

[niniane]

Day One: Thursday 9-12-19

 

I arrived late in Istanbul as my flight was delayed. Something or other happened where we pulled out to the tarmac, then went back to the airport. All the overhead bins were emptied and everyone had to identify which pieces of luggage were theirs. Not sure what that was about. I heard something about a medical emergency, but am guessing it was a terrorist threat of some sort just in that I'm not sure what kind of medical emergency would necessitate luggage retrieval. After an hour and a half of packing and unpacking, got into the air and arrived in Istanbul uneventfully.

 

I got on the bus to get to the Air BnB that Lindsey (a friend I'd agreed to meet with in Istabul - she was staying for a month, me for a week) had reserved (after Lindsey met me at the bus stop. This was very kind of her. Also, Tmobile's data plan that allows me to text in Turkey is the Best Thing Ever.) It was all very uneventful. The bus took about two hours (due to rush hour traffic), but Google maps worked fine and got there when expected. Lindsey was there to meet me. We returned my stuff to the apartment (rented from a Turk who is in the process of moving, so it is a very, very normal seeming apartment complete with personal effects) then went out for dinner in a local cafe.

 

The local cafe had a delicious lamb soup (supposedly the best in Turkey – I can believe – was super good! I wish I was less jet lagged and could appreciate more!) and people at neighboring tables periodically asked how we're doing. Turks appear to be very friendly. (Which aligns with what little I know of them.) I had a local beer which was...a very typical local beer (think Rainier, Tsingtao, etc.) I also found raki in the refrigerator (left by owner who said drink if you want) that wasn't...bad. I'm not sure I'll ever love raki (too much black licorish), but it wasn't awful like most of the stuff I've had. I finished a full shot of it without wincing! Yay for me.

 

Off to bed and hoping to see exciting things tomorrow!!!!

Day Two: 9-13-19

 

Woke up at 4 am today due to jet lag. Yay. Tried to stay asleep, but gave up and got out of bed around 4:30, which meant I was out the door by 5. I got to the ferry dock around 5:30, just in the for call to prayer. Amusingly there was a dog at the dock who was VERY into the prayer and kept howling along to it. Not sure if that's sacrilegious or not, but no one seemed to mind. The Turks love their street animals, which means that the streets of Istanbul are covered in stray cats and (fewer) stray dogs, all of whom seem very well tended.




My trip commute view!
 

I got off the ferry around 6:30 and promptly did the entire walking tour of Galata/New Town before anything was open. This involved walking around Galata tower, a fortress built by the Portuguese after taking the city in the mid-fifteenth century, then strolling down the main street (need to look up) to Taksim square. I doubled back around to check out St. Andrew's (a church with some lovely mosaic work on the outside), before heading over to Dolmabahce Palace.

 

Dolmabahce Palace is the enormous palace built by the Ottomans in the 18^th century and used in the early Turkish Republic before becoming a museum. It has lovely grounds (intricate gardens facing the Bosphorus) and the inside is stunning. Probably the most amazing room is one of the reception rooms with a huge dome, all carved rococo style, and painted blue, with an enormous (like...20 ft. x 20 ft) crystal chandelier. But the whole thing is a rococo masterpiece, with intricate furniture, paintings, carvings, and so, so much crystal. (Like, an average room would be lined in elaborate candelabras all made of crystal with a few chandeliers to balance it out).

 

One of the gates looking out at the Bosphorus.

I also took the tour of the harem, which in large part was fun because of the audio tour. (And getting to see that the mother of the sultan had quarters that were like...as large as the entire rest of the harem.) One of the more amusing points was that all the wives would send servants back and forth to carry messages rather than talk to each other, which seemed pretty silly as they like...were right next to each other.

 

I spent about two hours in the palace, which gave me another two hours before lunch. As it was on the way, I stopped by the Museum of Innocence and was...weird.

 
One way in which the museum is weird is its opening tableau. There are over 4000 cigarette butts that the protagonist supposedly collected from the heroine over many years. And yes, the rest of the museum only gets weirder.

To start with, the Museum of Innocence is a very strange concept to begin with. Turkey's Nobel laureate author (after winning the Nobel prize) decided to write a book about a wealthy, Westernized Turkish man living in the 1970s (I think?) who falls in love with a poorer distant relationship even though he's engaged to his perfect match. Things go poorly all around (his engagement fails and his former finance marries his best friend while the supposed love of his life marries someone else to save her honor) and he consoles himself by collecting various items that his supposed love has touched or interacted with (including her earring, clocks, and over 4000 cigarette butts). He then supposedly tells his story to the author of the novel, and creates a museum of all of these artifacts.

 
Another interesting artifact are the several hundred china dogs that he substituted, one after the next, on the heroine's family's TV.
 

This museum is well...the artifacts from the book, arranged by chapter. It's just...bizarre. Because you know it's not real, yet the museum pretends it's real (down to the room where the protagonist supposedly detailed his life story to the author then died). So it's both a collection of mid-20^th century Turkish artifacts and this odd literary Disneyland that is meta as hell. (In fact, you get in by presenting a ticket that's printed in the book. You could buy a ticket, too, but I went all the way and bought the damned book.) And then the other patrons (it was quite crowded) are EXTREMELY reverent, which makes it well...like literary snob Disneyland, I guess. It's all strange and yet kind of amazing at the same time.

 

After that, I ducked into the Mendelehvi Museum (mostly to get my Museum Pass – Turkey does this great thing where for 220 TL – less than $50 – you can visit most of the main sites in Istanbul over the course of 5 days. If you do three, it tends to be a good deal and we all know me and museums!) and roamed through the place. It was...peculiar. Like, it's about the Whirling Dervishes but it was so detailed that it was hard to follow. (Like, “This is what our founder said, then this weird dispute with his disciple, etc.”). Like, it was built at Dervish collegiate level, while I'd have liked a basic explanation of what the Dervishes are, why they felt like creating this place, and what they hope to get out of all the accouterments. But it was interesting, I guess, and didn't take long, and was essentially free as is included in my pass.

 

At lunch, I met up with Lindsey to have mezzes at a really lovely little restaurant, then went to the archaeology museum. Unfortunately, most of it (including a lot of the big items) were under renovation. But we did see some phenomenal sarcophaguses (including one that was larger than some of my past apartments), that were all carved intricately. Then there was a tile section that was...meh. Like, there was a lot of tile, but none of it was great. (In fact one had a drawing of a woman on it that was worse than my drawing, which says something. I wonder if whoever commissioned it asked for a refund?)

 

We were about to leave, when Lindsey was like, “I think there's a back entrance”...so we went around and found a huge other wing that had more grave stones, pottery (so much pottery) from as far as 5,000 years back, and some tools. Most of it seemed to be pottery, though. The Turks appear to LOVE pottery.

 
Including this pottery...which is special...
 

On the way back, Lindsey insisted on ice cream. The vendor was hilarious, giving us a cone with no ice cream, then just the ice cream, then handing us the cone with ice cream just to snatch it away, then to almost push it into Lindsey's nose, just to give it to us. It was an impressive act! The ice cream itself was good, too. It tasted like good ice cream, but somehow more solid. (I'm not sure how.) It kind of stood up by itself and didn't seem to melt quite right and was almost chewy. I'm not sure what was done to it, but it tasted like ice cream (therefore delicious) and had a really fun texture. I want to learn how to make it as it's really interesting.

 

We went back and had Donner for dinner, which was...okay. Like a gyro, just not as good as there wasn't any taziki sauce or vegetables. (Just lamb and a wrap. Which is...okay? But like, WHY NOT ADD MORE STUFF?) But it was well spiced, so there was that.

 

Day Three: 9-14-19

 

I woke up this morning at the call to prayer (5:30...ugh) and went out to breakfast without Lindsey. The local pastry shop had a delicious buttery bread thing filled with cheese. I had that and two cups of tea for 5 TL (a bit less than a dollar). It was a good breakfast!

 

I locked myself out so Lindsey had to save me. Then we took the ferry over to Europe and then another bus to Chora Church. Chora church was made in the late Easter Roman Empire as a kind of “out in the boonies” church (Chora means countryside). The structure isn't anything impressive, but the inside is covered in incredibly intricate mosaics (mostly gold) with perfectly lifelike features. Most of it follows the life of Mary and Jesus' miracles, but some of the highlights include a mosaic with Jesus and Mary standing next to the emperor and empress (all crazy lifelike – modern paintings aren't much better), one of Jesus surrounded by a bunch of saints and apostles, Mary's death scene, and on and on. It felt a bit expensive as it really is tiny. But the mosaics are exquisite, so I'm glad we made it out.


Some dude was making a killing as the face model for Christ.

Like, I am the Son of God. Or at least look like it. So hey! My face goes everywhere!

 
Mary is getting a lot of love from saints I was never educated about. But hey, good for her! She's being doted on!
 

From there, we wandered over to the city walls (still intact!) and over to the Palace of Paramakios (sp). What's weird is that while this is well enough preserved that there is something of the shape of a palace remaining, there isn't much. Yet there was this HUGE modern complex built around it complete with new stairs, catwalks, fancy glass windows, a cafe, a gorgeous bathroom, large gift shop, interactive displays, etc. But all it was was...bricks. And then inside a walled off section (more bricks) were a bunch of random glass and pottery shards (mostly from the 19^th century) that had been found during the excavation. It was so weird. Like...they'd put a bunch of garbage into these super fancy museum exhibits. It was puzzling.


So these ruins are like super old. That makes them important, right?

 

From there, we walked over to a graveyard that had the bodies of several of Mohammed's companions. I guess that they'd tried to seize Constantinople in the 8^th century, died and were buried. When the Ottomans came, they had their bodies found (maybe? Like...how could they figure out who was who?) and buried with ceremony. We weren't sure which bodies were the companions vs. other people (in fact, some had weird dates like c.1382 – 9-8-1976...what does that mean????), but we figured that this was important and was on our way to another church that supposedly had cool mosaics. Yet when we got there, there was no way in.

 

We gave up and wandered over to a spring that used to have a shrine to the Virgin Mary and many of her supposed belongings. The belongings have since vanished, but the spring exists and water from it supposedly cures illnesses and removes bad luck. They were handing out bottles by the spring and I got one and drank one. Lindsey thought it was all kind of stupid, but I never say no to luck so downed mine. (She tasted my drink and claimed that it tasted like plastic. It kind of did. Well...it was in a plastic bottle). But this is a tradition that has lasted perhaps a thousand years, and I was glad to be able to participate in it.

 
Beautiful church is beautiful.

We eventually wandered over to the Eumenical Patriarche. This is the church that is currently the seat for Constantinople Orthodox Christians. And as this is the seat of the Eastern Roman empire, that's a Big Deal. It was filled when we got there and the Patriarch was saying mass. Crowds of people were video taping it on their phones and kissing the icons in front of the several saints (three all told) whose bones (well, some of their bones) were in caskets there. There was also a very cool alter that is covered in gold and pictures of the icons.


Say what you will, I find it almost transcendent to be among the believers.Their religion isn't quite mine, but it's close, and this is a Big Thing. (And if you want to mock faith like this, it seems best that you not be here. I only took pictures as the faithful were doing the same, so it seemed more or less appropriate. I also venerated the icons, relics, etc. I'm not a monster.)

 

From there, we wandered through Balat, the old Jewish and Christian neighborhood that is filled with trendy cafes and colorfully painted houses. We got a lunch (many mezzes) at a Greek restaurant, then took a bus back to the bazaar quarter.

 
The mosque is glorious, as it well should be!
 


So beautiful!!!!

Before we went shopping, we went to Sulyeim's mosque. The call to prayer was staring when we arrived, which meant that we hung out in the gardens for a bit. It was very pretty (good view of the Bosphorous) and the graveyard was open, which meant that we got to see the magnificent graves of Sulyeim and his family members. The prayer was also fun to listen to as there are a LOT of mosques in the area, so one would start, then another, then another. It was this gorgeous chorus of singing.

 
Mosque interiors, like cathedral interiors, are meant to make one think of heaven. I feel like the great architectural examples of both (of which this is one of) succeed.
 

At last we entered the mosque which was, of course, magnificent. There were huge windows and chandeliers. The side facing Mecca was covered in stained glass. There were also geometric patters and gorgeous calligraphy.

 

A very bubbly woman promptly introduced herself to us and asked if we had any questions. (All I can figure is that the Muslims have learned from the Mormons and are now having bubbly women staffing popular mosques to show people around and remind everyone what a GREAT religion they happen to have.) I asked for some fun facts about the mosque. She started by sharing that some of the balls on the chandeliers repelled spiders. Then she went on to explain that the architect had cleverly designed all of the air to flow into a soot room that would take the soot from oil burning lamps and candles and filter it there. (That is super clever.)

 

She then demonstrated the amazing acoustics of the building by clapping and explained how the calligraphy over the main windows was the first verse from the Book of Mary in the Koran. Then the four panels were for Mohammed's four companions, then the other two were from his grandsons. Then she showed me the genealogy of Mohammed and the other prophets and explained quite cheerfully how of course they love Jesus – he's a prophet – they just don't worship him. Only Allah. I noted that they don't really worship Mohammed either and she seemed quite pleased. I'm sure had I lingered a bit longer I'd be invited to a special dinner to consider my feelings about belonging to the One True Religion.

 

I want everything they're wearing, even if I don't want to go to Morocco and spend several thousand dollars to acquire said clothing.
 

On our way out, we saw a group of women in incredibly gorgeous caftans. I complimented them and asked where they'd bought them. They said Algeria and remarked that they were there for a wedding. I got a picture as well as wished the soon to be married couple a long and happy life.

 
 

We then went to the Grand Bazaar, which reminds me a lot of the one in Kashgar, just more touristy and somewhat less organized. The antiques part was probably the best as there was a TON of cool stuff, which was expensive, but awesome. I kept considering buying more stuff, but it all seemed really chintzy, so Lindsey recommended that I go to a modern store instead and buy stuff that was actually nice.

 

We found another mosque along the way, which was also gorgeous (less so than the last, but still...huge dome, stained glass windows, beautiful calligraphy), then went off to the spice market. We made it through there fairly fast as, again, it was a zoo and I don't need spices, then took the ferry back to Asia.

 

While Lindsey rested, I made it off to the local mall which was home to one of the fancy places to buy home goods. (Like, all made in Turkey out of bone china with local designs. It was quite expensive, but if I'm going to haul something half way across the globe, I want the best, not some crappy knock off.) I bought a number of things there, hit Carrefour (also in the mall) for tea and treats, then headed back.

 

For dinner, we went to a local dumplings place that was delicious. (Aren't all dumplings?) Then on the way back, I found something that had a cool picture of a dessert, so had to try one. It turned out to be a light rice pudding (I think?) drizzled with chocolate, with ice cream underneath. It was amazing. AMAZING. I still have no idea what it is, but I will sincerely miss it.

 

Day Four: 9-15-19

 

I woke up around 5 am this morning (before the call to prayer) as the cats tried to break into my room. They succeeded and hopped on me, at which point I was up. Yay.

 

I made it out to the ferry, but apparently the ferry starts at 7 am on weekends vs. 6, so took the Marmary into Istanbul. I made it to the Hippodrome a bit before 7, which gave me two hours before the Hagia Sophia opened.

 

The Hagia Sophia is always amazing.


How can you not feel awe?


It is glorious, I tell you!

The great thing about being there so early is that there aren't many people there. (Well, that and that the sunrise behind the Hagia Sophia is AMAZING!) I got some pictures then wandered around the Hippodrome. Among other things that are open to anyone include:

 

1. An obelisk from Karnasus, made in 1450 BC, that was brought over in like 500 BC. So...old.

 

2. A cool fountain that was gifted from the Germans in 1900.

 

3. The serpentine column, made from shields melted down by the ancient Greeks after winning a war that they then tuned into a pair of intertwined snakes.
   
   
   
   
   4. The baths of Roxalena - a historic Turkish bath.

 

The baths of Roxalena.


An oblisque.

It's very nifty! I still had a lot of time, so grabbed an over priced (by Turkish) standards breakfast of a sausage and cheese omelet (lamb sausage, no doubt) and tea. Then I made it off to the Blue Mosque, which opens at 8:30 vs. 9:00.

 
The Blue Mosque is very impressive externally.


...But Hagia Sophia may beat it...

I was kind of disappointed in the Blue Mosque. It was originally built as a way of saying, “Hey, we can build things as awesome as the Hagia Sophia!” (even though it's smaller) and is supposedly lavishly decorated with Iznik tiles. The word “turquoise” actually comes from it, as the French were so impressed by the lavish scenes of heavens depicted in the tiles that they named the color of the tiles after the Turks. Alas, they were renovating the dome, so while I could see a few tiles, the dome was completely covered up. Boo. It was still peaceful and serene and I was amused by the Muslim evangelical pamphlets.


Outside the Blue Mosque were tombs that were not under repair, so still visually stunning.

 

(The main selling points to Islam seem to be: 1. It's a very nice religion and Muslims do very nice things, 2. We actually believe in your God and Mary is our most important female saint, too, so you don't have to give anything up (other than alcohol and pork?). You just get like, a bonus prophet. 3. If you read your own holy book, you'd see that clearly even Jesus is aware that there will be another prophet, so it's all quite logical if you think about it that way. 4. We're actually very nice to women. Women are the best. Ignore Saudi Arabia. We're actually a very progressive religion.)

 

The quick tour of the Blue Mosque (as there wasn't much to see) meant that I got in line for the Hagia Sophia early enough that I was towards the front. Then someone mentioned that since I'd bought the MuseumKart pass, I should be in the other line. So I got to the VERY FRONT of that one. And since I was at the front of the line that didn't need to buy a ticket, I was THE FIRST PERSON IN.

 
So yeah, that remains one of the largest domes in the world.


The Virgin watches over the Church.


Half a small dome and a partially recreated seraphim


An offering plaque.


The slowly filtering in tour groups give a sense of scale.


You see? I was here!!!!


More of that amazing dome!


The Vikings also left their mark here, which might give a sense as to HOW LONG THIS PLACE HAS BEEN AROUND.


A donor image of some very important emperors and empresses.


A lot of Hagia Sophia has been reconstructed, but this seems to be the ornate that a lot was done in once. It's exquisite, no?

This doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is. What it meant is that, since I beelined it to the church (while everyone else lingered in the courtyards outside, likely because they were on tours where the tour guide wanted to do things in order, I go the Hagia Sophia to myself for about 5 glorious minutes and about another 10 minutes where there was almost no one there. This was AMAZING, mostly because once it filled up, it felt like a zoo. (While by myself, I really got a sense as to what an enormous and magnificent building it is. It's large enough the Notre Dame could fit into a single dome, and there are still pretty amazing golden mosaics that are uncovered. They're less enjoyable when jostling for a position where you can vaguely make them out, but when you can just stand there and take it all in, it's breathtaking.)

 
A view from Hagia Sophia.


More of that awesome dome.

I took as long as I wanted at the Hagia Sophia (a bit more than an hour – it's big, but there's only so much that's been restored) then went on over to the Basilica Cistern, a huge cistern that was built underground to store water for the city. It was empty, so that was kind of dull. The columns, harvested from even more ancient temples, were kind of cool, but mostly it was just a big dark room with a bunch of columns, some of which had interesting carvings on them. (Most did not.)

 

After that, I went over to the Mosaic Museum, where mosaics from the Byzantine Imperial palace were stored. It's pretty cool, just in that there are a LOT of them and they're quite pretty, but that was done after not too long.

 

Since it was still before noon, I spent a bit of time wandering the bazaar that the Mosaic Museum is in. (It was apparently made from several of the shops that used to be in the bazaar.) I started noticing that the shop keepers weren't being at all aggressive about selling or hawking and didn't seem to bargain, as well as that the goods were of much higher quality. Eventually I went into a textile store to buy a few reasonably priced bags made from antique Turkish rugs, and started talking to the owner. Apparently his family made these woven rug bags out of silk that are super cool. They are kind of expensive, so I was like, “No, I shouldn't buy one...” But they were also so unique and cool – think traditional patterns with a twist, then silk rugs, turned into a bag – that I eventually went back and got one.

 

I started talking to the owner, who LOVES textiles and apparently has taught international classes on textile making. It turns out that this bazaar is owned by the mosque, who gives traditional crafts people spaces for free in exchange for selling culturally important stuff. He is very disappointed in that the number of people doing real Turkish rugs is dropping, but still loves intricate rug making and embroidery.

 

He showed me some of his favorite pieces, including 17^th century embroidery and a silk rug made around 20 years ago showing the tree of life. It truly is a work of art and I mentioned that I'd love such a thing, but alas, am not wealthy enough to buy something like that.

 

He noted that the price on it hasn't gone up in 20 years. He just hasn't sold it, but has no use for it. Also that it's $900 US – a lot, but hardly a princely sum – and that it truly is one of a kind. Also that it took 10 months to make, etc. And I was like, “Ugh, I actually CAN afford that and REALLY want it!” So I may go back for it, but will sleep on it and see if I'm still crazily obsessed with it tomorrow. (Just it's...it really is so beautiful. It had two deer under a blooming tree laden with birds. It's so much cooler than the more standard geometrical patterns, has the family's seal woven into it, everything. And I could tell it was genuine. It's just...it really is a unique and fantastic piece. And $900 US is less than a third of its listed price, assuming its listed price is in modern TL vs. pre-devaluated Lira...)

 

Once I was done with the market, I made it up to Topkapi palace, which was predictably amazing. Topkapi palace was built by the Ottoman's not long after they took Istanbul, and was stayed in until they moved to Dolmabahce in the 19^th century. Even after it was abandoned, they continued to use it to store their museum pieces, which meant that it was both a super cool building and an amazing museum.


Hagia Eirene is a small church outside Topkapi. It's not super important, but shows Iconoclast style!

 

Some of the highlights include:

 

1. The library, a gorgeously tiled and stained glass building that looks so comfortable. There are bookshelves and couches and light streaming in. I desperately wanted to crawl into one and read for a few hours.

2. The entertaining room in the harem, also covered in blue tiles and large, luxurious couches.

3. The weaponry display. There were swords made entirely out of gold, a suit of armor covered in rubies and diamonds, ceremonial maces made out of gold and encrusted in jewels, you get the idea...

4. The holy relics room, that you had to be dressed “appropriately” to enter .This included things such as hair from Mohammed's beard, a skull of a saint, Moses' staff, King David's sword, several swords of the companions of Mohammed, Mohammed's sword, etc. (I guess Christians aren't the only ones who do this....)

5. The ceramics. Part of what was so cool about this is that because the Ottoman empire survived for so long, the ceramics go from Medieval to quite modern.

 

This jewel encrusted thing stored...ammo? I'm not sure. It's clearly too gorgeous for any real use. This is the weaponry display. No wonder the Ottomans were seen as decadent!
 

Armor? Jewelry? Why decide?


For when you bedazzle your knife.


Are those...diamond nipple covers?


If you can't encrust your stirrups with gems, what can you encrust with them?

 
This Koran cover is pretty amazingly bejeweled.
 

Unfortunately the clothing and jewelry displays were being renovated, so I didn't get to see the 80-something carat diamond and the other crazy displays. But it was still a phenomenal palace.


The dome of one of the two mosques in the harem, since the women weren't allowed out but still needed to pray.


I love the library and totally wanted to hang out there and read for a few hours.


Doesn't the library look cozy?

Moar library!

 
I think this is more library, although it may be another gorgeous sitting room.


Inside the eunuch's barracks. I was standing there when someone asked a guard to take his picture. When the guard did so I was like, "Good idea! I want pictures to!" So I asked the guard and he insisted on doing a full on photoshoot which was kind of hilarious as I am...totally not dressed for it. But hey, when in Rome...


More eunuch quarters.


And part of the harem proper, which is quite lovely!


More harem...


The Queen Mother's reception room is pretty amazing. I want to live here...
 

I finished with the palace about three, so went off to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic arts. It had some lovely displays of normal life in the Ottoman empire along with phenomenal caftans, a good collection of rugs, and pottery (mostly) dating back to Roman times. I particularly like the Mamaluke pottery and the holy relics room (more Mohammed beard, more swords) which you also were supposed to be dressed appropriately for (although no one was checking here). It was a fairly quick museum visit, but very nicely laid out and comprehensive.


A caftan from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic arts.

 

I made it back to go out for Turkish pizza with Lindsey. Turkish pizza turn out to either be cheese on bread or a ground mix of lamb and spices on bread. It was delicious. I also picked up some cheap olives at the market (they were 26 TL – about $5 USD – per kilo) and Lindsey picked up more Turkish delight. I am eating well.