More Istanbul

Friday

 We decided to take a break from the touristy side of town and travelled off the beaten path. After our delicious and gluttonous breakfast, we left the hotel and headed in the opposite direction from the previous day. We walked through random neighborhoods, up very steep hills, and enjoyed several beautiful views.

Along the way we passed Istanbul University which on the outside looked very impressive. Unfortunately we couldn’t get in to explore more of the buildings on campus because you needed a pass to enter. We walked on and after more hills came upon Suleymaniye Mosque. A quick look in our travel guide informed us that this was the second biggest mosque in Istanbul and definitely worth the visit. We decided to walk around the grounds first and were rewarded with an amazing view of the city (or at least part of it) below. It was definitely worth all of the hills we climbed to get there. Feeling like a Jezebel with my uncovered head, I slipped my neck scarf over my hair and after removing our shoes we quietly entered the mosque. It was breathtaking. The dome is extremely high up and there are only so many windows so in order to light the interior giant lights are suspended on chains towards the ground. It creates a very serene atmosphere.

View after climbing the first hill of the day

Interesting graveyard

                                                             Suleymaniye Mosque

                                                             Suleymaniye Mosque

                                                Place to wash outside before prayers

This doesn't capture the true beauty of the view from the mosque

After the mosque, we headed downhill and ended up in a neighborhood that is not on any tourist map of Istanbul. The previous two days we had commented on how clean and well-kept the city was compared to other major cities we have visited. Well, we found the poorer side of town as well as what was hopefully the town dump and not someone’s backyard. I didn’t feel unsafe but I did feel uncomfortable. I felt like a voyeur in people’s lives as this was definitely not a tourist friendly neighborhood. However, it was nice to see what “real” Istanbul might look like. We continued downhill until we reached the river. After a quick venture through the Spice Bazaar (which smelled, looked, and sounded gorgeous) we crossed the Galata Bridge and enjoyed views of the cityscape on both sides of the bridge. We climbed more hills (the hills were really endless that day especially considering how flat our lives are in the Netherlands) to the Galata tower and then headed over to Istiklal Avenue for lunch, window shopping, and people watching.

Although poorer and dirtier, this neighborhood had a great view

We refreshed ourselves with freshly squeezed pomegranate and orange juices. 

Galata Tower

Turkish Delight- very delicious. It reminded me of Dots candy with no chemical aftertaste.

We returned back to “our” side of the bridge and then took a ferry to the Asian side of the city. Instead of a tourist boat we took the ferry that regular commuters use (the Asian side is cheaper to live on than the European side). Again, we were treated to gorgeous views. However, once we got to the Asian side we noticed a considerable difference. It was colder, wetter, dirtier, and less groomed. We weren’t deterred though and made our way  to the train station that housed a locomotive from the Orient Express. We then warmed ourselves at a café with tea and baklava before heading out again into the damp weather. Being Gearoid and Natasha, of course we managed to find several bookstores with English books. We browsed but managed not to buy. We finished our brief visit to the Asian side with a walk through the fresh market where we bought bread, dolmas, and fruit for a quiet meal back at the hotel.  After getting lost and having to walk up more hills and through more random neighborhoods, we finally made it back to the hotel for a peaceful evening after a long day of walking (mostly uphill).

Although I love Gearoid dearly, he was grating on my nerves a bit after 3 non-stop days of him as my only company. 

But I instantly perked up with some Turkish Delight!

A man was feeding the seagulls from the ferry. It was pretty cool to watch until he threw the rest of the crumbs to the birds and the all blew in my hair. Luckily the gulls were full by then.

Trainstation- if you look closely you can see the locomotive that was part of the Orient Express.

I wish we could have taken more pictures of the beautiful fruit and vegetable displays because they were all so attractive.

This man was selling the delicious and warm boza drink. 

Saturday

 We returned to the tourist side of town for a morning trip to Hagia Sophia, a former cathedral turned mosque that is now a museum. This was the highlight of the trip for Gearoid. After a couple of hours of walking around, taking a multitude of pictures and finishing our audio tour, he suggested we just “hang out” and appreciate the age, history, and beauty of the place. I obliged him as much as I could before guilting him into leaving (I then felt guilty for rushing his “absorption of history” time- I think this was due to residual effects of the cathedral).

This urn (and another one across the way) was used to hold sherbets to cool down the faithful during the hot summer months.  

Looking at an ancient library.

Where the imam led worship services

Gearoid was impressed by how after thousands of years and visitors this once rectangular marble step had been worn down. 

Dear Gearoid's family- don't worry about him. Here he is walking through the Gates of Heaven. He made it without being stopped:) 

Viking graffiti!

Picture of a mosaic of Mary.

Baptismal bath

One of many cats just hanging out

We then headed around the corner to the Basilica Cistern, which was (like the rest of the trip) amazing. There wasn’t too much to see but the lighting, the columns, and the mysterious Medusa sculptures were enough that we spent an extra half hour getting dripped on while drinking tea in an underground cafe.

Medusa- there were two Medusa statues and they're unsure where they came from and why one is upside down and the other is laying on her side.

After a delicious and cheap lunch of falafels, we walked away from the tourists in search of an aqueduct. We found ourselves walking back down to the riverside where we encountered some rain clouds threatening to open up. We hurried into the crowded Spice Bazaar and made our way through tiny streets rushing away from the impending rain. Unfortunately we got caught and drenched (we really should have bought an umbrella from one of the many impromptu umbrella vendors we saw earlier in the day) but fortunately were close enough to the covered Grand Bazaar to escape the torrential rain. While there, we started/finished any and all shopping we wanted to do. I found Gearoid’s bargaining style too harsh so mostly we got ripped off as he went along with my complacent buying tactics. We walked away with a lamp, a plate, some magnets, a purse, and a few other trinkets (all overpriced).

This was at our the falafel place. Sometimes the giant meat skewars looked really dried out but this one with layers of chicken, spices, and veggies tempted even us long term vegetarians.

Picture of a Whirling Dervish

After a quick rest at the hotel, we ventured off for dinner. I suggested this hole in the wall place I saw the day before during our random neighborhood walk. It was close enough to the hotel and far away from the tourist trap restaurants. I, very happily considering my usual chronic lack of direction, led the way and we found the almost literal hole in the wall. It was a Turkish pizza place with only five things on the menu. Inside were a teenage boy and a cold stone oven. He welcomed us profusely and tried a couple of times to engage us in his broken English.  I wanted to chat back but it was extremely difficult so we instead looked at the collage of pictures on the wall next to us that showed other caught off guard tourists eating pizza and smiling uncomfortably. The pizza was delicious though. He reignited the stove with newspapers and rolled out the dough in front of us ensuring that our food would be fresh.

After the pizza, we decided to spend our last night doing something “traditionally” Turkish. I couldn’t convince Gearoid to have a Turkish bath but he did agree to smoke a hookah. There was a café near our hotel and we entered the smoky room and unsuccessfully pretended to know what we were doing. We ordered tea and coffee and an apple flavored tobacco. The hookah was brought over with disposable mouth pieces. I brought it to my mouth to inhale when a boy came over to light it with hot coals for us- duh- because you can’t smoke without heat. The smoke flavor was mild and we only occasionally got a strong apple flavor in our mouths and nostrils. I don’t know if it was the smoke, the darkened atmosphere, or because it was our last night in Istanbul but I became melancholic and lethargic. At that point, we refused more coals and headed out to the delicious fresh air outside and back to our hotel for much needed showers. Lying in bed that night, I felt an uncomfortable tickle in my chest- another reminder of why I don’t smoke.

There were many hookah smoking pictures taken and most were unflattering and are never going to see the light of day.

Sunday- Our last day

We were treated to blue skies again on our last day. We filled up on our last breakfast at the hotel and then headed to our last tourist destination- the Blue Mosque. It was extremely beautiful both inside and out. However, being a major tourist attraction and being required to remove your shoes before entering, the slight smell of feet tainted the gorgeous interior. Unfortunately for us, our third camera (we stupidly didn’t bring chargers and took so many pictures that we went through my camera and both of our cell phones power sources) ran out of juice and we didn’t get nearly as many pictures as we did of Topkapi or Hagia Sophia.

We had a few hours to kill before we had to be back at the hotel for our shuttle so we enjoyed the weather and took a very nice rambling walk. Our walk led us through a park behind Topkapi where we drank tea at an outdoor café with amazing views of the Golden Horn, the Asian side of the city, and fisherman enjoying their Sunday off.  The only blight on a beautiful day was when we got scammed by a shoe shine guy to get our shoes cleaned. We had been saying “no thanks” all day to shoe shiners- even the guy who boldly told me that my shoes were dirty- and a helpful gesture on our part got us scammed. The man walked in front of us with his shoe shine equipment and “accidently” dropped one of his brushes. Gearoid picked it up for him and as a sign of gratitude he lifted my boot clad foot and shined away. He chatted about a son in a hospital or something to that effect before sneaking Gearoid’s feet onto the cleaning platform. Gearoid pulled out a couple of Turkish lira to thank him for the “free” shoe shines when he promptly informed us that he charges more than what we were offering. He quickly made change for Gearoid and walked off leaving us stunned at his scam. It was both an amusing and annoying experience.

I literally could have enjoyed the view all day long.

The pomegranates were so beautiful. 

 After another falafel lunch and some people watching we made our way back to the hotel and ended a wonderful and amazing vacation.