Istanbul Turkey

Istanbul Turkey, Day 1, A Palace, Mosque & Cistern

Monday 19 Sept 2011

Air travel used to be exciting. Now it gets you to your destination faster but it involves long security lines, extended waits between flights and frequent delays. Nevertheless it beats overnight bus rides or trains without comfortable berths, so we take the good with the bad. We couldn’t think of any reason to stop along the way from Harlech to Manchester airport with less than perfect weather, so we arrived with more time to spare than anyone would need. The plane was late anyway but the flight was short and uneventful. Our shuttle to the simple Heathrow hotel we had chosen came when we called and the guesthouse staff was friendly. They directed us to the local pub where we shared seats with a friendly British foursome on a weekend away.  

Our flight the next morning to Istanbul was scheduled for 7:10 AM, which means you have to be at the airport at the ungodly hourly of 5 AM. It was too early for the hotel shuttle but they were able to deliver a good take away breakfast at 4 AM and a free public bus was available across the road direct to our terminal in time for our check in. Ray and I, along with 95% of the other passengers snoozed our way to Istanbul, making up for the early wakeup call; our drive to our hotel was there to meet us and we met with a friendly welcome at Marmara Guesthouse. What more can you ask? 

Marmara Guesthouse, in the Sultanahmet district, is run by a Turkish family. We have a compact room, with an ensuite and small balcony, looking out to another hotel. The pluses are breakfast on the roof top terrace, tea and coffee any time of day, inexpensive beer and good travel advice. There are lots of restaurants in the area to choose from and we are just a short walk from most of the main. We are very comfortable. 

One of our favourite menu choices is Mezes, Turkish Tapas. Twice we have shared a large plate of appetizer type foods displayed in glass cases in Arasta Bazaar, just below the Blue Mosque. They were delicious. We have a new Best Friend in one of the touts enticing customers to a restaurant on our walking path. We finally succumbed and were both pleased with our Turkish selections. Now we get a greeting and a hug whenever we pass. 

Speaking of touts, they are all over the area, especially encouraging us to visit their carpet shop or look at their ceramics. So far we are on good terms. We politely say we are not in the market and they seem to understand and wish us a good day. It has not been an aggressive hard sell, although there are so many shops we wonder how they ever get enough sales to make a living.  

Fellow travellers told us they had mistakenly thought that September was off-season for Turkey. It is not. It is still a major stop for increasing large cruise ships and bus tours. All take in the Topkapi Palace. So did we. There were line-ups at each of the ticket booths but we managed to avoid the worst crushes of people. The attendant selling audio guides advised us to visit the Harem first and he was right. We spent over three hours on the site and were glad we had come. 

Mehmet the Conqueror built Topkapi in 1453 and subsequent sultans occupied the compound until 1839, after which Sultans built lavish European style palaces on the Bosphorus Sea. The public is allowed to see only a small number of the sprawling palace buildings, but it was more than enough for us.  

Muslim men are allowed four wives under Islamic law and sultans could have as many concubines as they could support. Topkapi Palace housed between 300 and 500 concubines in the harem. As Islamic law forbids the enslavement of Muslims, all the girls were foreign born, bought as slaves or presented as gifts from nobles. The young girls were schooled in Islamic and Turkish culture, especially music and dance, and then worked their way up the ranks of the household hierarchy, hoping to become a favourite of the sultan. The harem was more than the women’s quarters, it was actually the Imperial family quarters so the rooms were numerous and beautifully decorated. I especially loved the beautiful mosaics and decorated domed ceilings in the rooms.  

We wandered through the rest of the buildings on the Palace grounds, admiring the many gardens, pavilions and terraces with views over the Sea of Marmara. We marvelled over the jewels and other antiquities and learned about Turkey’s illustrious past. It was time well spent.  

Sultanahmet Park, between the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya, is a popular place for locals, especially late in the day. Vendors sell roasted corn, and fresh squeezed pomegranate or orange juice. People stop to chat and sit on the rows of benches. We happened upon a free concert of traditional Turkish music played by men dressed in period costume at one end of the park late in the afternoon. A man beat enthusiastically on a big drum, another played an eastern style wind instrument and two men sang the melody. It looked as if dancers were waiting for their turn to perform but we left before they came on stage. We were on our way to visit the Basilica Cistern. 

The cistern was built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 532 beneath Stoa Basilica, a large public square, to supply the Great Palace of Constantinople and surrounding buildings. The cistern is 65 M wide by 143 M long and once held 80,000 cu m of water fed by aqueducts from the Belgrade forest, 19 km north of the city. The roof is supported by 336 columns with carved capitals from ruined buildings, arranged in 12 rows with tiled domes between each group of four domes. The cistern was forgotten until it was rediscovered in 1535 and has been restored three times since then. We walked through the dimly lit cistern on raised wooden platforms, beneath which swam fish clearly visible in the clear waters. One platform led by the Teardrop Column decorated with hen’s eyes, considered “Good Luck”, each dripping a tear. The tears pay homage to the hundreds of slaves who died during the construction of the cistern. Two Medusa Heads act as bases for columns. One lies upside down while the other rests on its side. Why they were placed that way is a subject of controversy.  

The first thing you notice when you enter the Blue Mosque is the smell of feet. The Muslims are fastidious about washing before prayers so it must be the thousands of tourists who have removed their shoes before walking on the carpets that cover the floor area. The Blue Mosque, named for the blue tiles that decorate the walls and the domed ceiling, was constructed from 1606-1616 by Sultan Ahmet I as a rival to the nearby Aya Sofya. Most people prefer the Aya Sofya, but the Blue Mosque is still impressive. The public is permitted to visit the Blue Mosque between official prayer times and allowed to admire the interior behind a low fence separating the men’s prayer area from the public. Muslim women were relegated to a much smaller area at the rear of the mosque. Women have to cover their heads to enter but I noticed many taking off their scarves as soon as they got inside. I did too for the requisite picture taking. 

We have two more days to explore the sights of Istanbul. It will not be enough time to see everything so we have reserved more time for our return in October.  

Istanbul Turkey Day 2 Bazaars and Boats

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20 Sept 2011

I wasn’t going to buy any souvenirs but the selection available in the Grand Bazaar changed my mind. We followed a walking tour from Lonely Planet to find our way there and not get lost in the sprawling market place. We passed an ancient column, known as Cemberlitas, erected by Emperor Constantine to celebrate the designation of Constantinople as the capital of the Roman Empire in 330 AD. 

The Bazaar was built by Mehmet the Conqueror in the mid 15^thC as a small masonry covered market in the heart of the Old City. A system of gates and doors were designed so that the complex could be locked up at night. Today there are 3000 shops inside and another 1500 shops outside selling carpets, ceramics, silverware, copperware, lamps, leather goods, clothing...you name it. We wandered past marble fountains still used by locals to wash their hands and face, admiring the selection in the small crowded shops. When I stopped to look at one piece of embroidered cloth and asked if the shop owner had more, he led us to his cousin’s shop on another corridor. Of course the cousin, being a good salesman, was only too pleased to oblige. How could I resist expanding my collection of fabric art. His bargaining was far better than mine but I am pleased with my table runner cum wall hanging.  

The Spice Market is always a favourite of ours and it was just a short walk from the Grand Bazaar. Besides colourful spices, shops sell nuts, dried fruit, Turkish Delight candies.

Right across the road from the Spice Market gate is the Galata Bridge. We headed for the fabled bobbing boats dishing out fish sandwiches as fast as they could. For 5 TL ($2) we had a large fillet of fish placed between fresh crusty bread with lots of lettuce and onion. We ate it sitting on stools at a small table. It was delicious.

The afternoon seemed made for a ride on a ferry. Tour boats and ferries leave from the Eminönü terminal beside the bridge taking locals and tourists into the Golden Horn waterway that leads to the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus. We just chose one that was ready to head off. For 2 TL we had a 20 minute ride to Üsküdar port on the quieter Eastern section. We had to look at our maps to figure out where we were. There was a nice park along the shoreline, but not much else of interest. We just wandered around for a while and took the next ferry back to our starting point and walked back to our guesthouse. Next time here we will take a ferry to another terminal and explore another district.

We had to go to at least one Whirling Dervish performance. The easiest choice was Cafe Meşale next to the Arasta Bazaar. Tourists come to Cafe Meşale to sample a hookah water pipe and to watch a dervish perform a sema, used as a meditative ceremony that represents union with god. We didn’t try the hookah but the food was good and the sema was interesting. I don’t think a whole evening of whirling dervishes will be on our itinerary.

Istanbul Day 3 Museums and Moving On

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21 Sept 2011

IIf you tell me that Paris traffic is bad, or say you have been caught in traffic jams in New York, or London, England, or even Toronto, you haven’t seen anything until you have experienced Istanbul at rush hour.

Our flight from Istanbul to Kayseri, in the Cappadocia region, left at 9 PM from Sabiha Görςen Airport, 50 km E of the city. We had two choices to get to the airport. We could either take an inexpensive 1 ½ hour shuttle bus ride leaving at 3:30 PM. That would mean a wait of 3 hours at the airport before we could check in at 8 PM. The alternative was a much more expensive but shorter private taxi. That is what we booked. Since we would be leaving near rush hour we were advised to allow 2 hours, instead of 1 hour, to get to the airport. Our driver Emir arrived at 6 PM in his van. Emir drove up and down narrow back streets to get out of the crowded Sultanahmet district heading for the Galata Bridge and Eastern Istanbul. That was bad enough but it didn’t hold a candle to the absolute grid lock we experienced on the other side. There must have been a problem before we were caught in the traffic but we were stuck with no avenue of escape.  

Emir called his company to find out what was going on. Nobody knew. He called Turkish Airlines for us and found out our plane was on time and if we didn’t get there by 8:15 we would lose the booking and have to find another flight on our own. Finally they relented and said we had until 8:30 to reach the check-in counter. At 8 PM we reached a less busy highway and still had 30 km to go. Emir said he was going to try to get there by 8:30. He put on the flashers and took a restricted lane, passing all the other cars. He wove expertly in and out of lanes. It started to rain but we kept on. He turned off the main highway at 8:30 and started to slide on the wet pavement. We held on and he corrected in time to make the last sprint to the departure door. It was 8:35. Emir got out, leaving me to guard the taxi, while he and Ray ran inside to persuade the airline to allow us to board the flight. Haleleuja! Turkish Airlines came through. An employee came outside and collected me and our luggage and we sprinted through security. Ray’s bag couldn’t go on as hand luggage as the trusty Swiss Army knife was inside. All my luggage became carry on. We boarded the plane with 10 minutes to spare. Ray said it took 10 years off his life. Emir deserved accolades and a big tip, but that will have to wait until we return.  

And to think we thought we had an easy day. At least it started well. Ray got a haircut in the morning while I visited Turkey’s first museum, the Archaeological Museum. The collection is so vast that it becomes brain overload attempting to see everything. My favourites were the incredible detail on reliefs decorating doors and sarcophagus and the lifelike detail on the later statues of both real people and mythical men and women. Anyone with more experience with archaeology would have a field day exploring the items collected from numerous sites around Turkey and surrounding countries. I spent more than an hour browsing the exhibits and I didn’t even finish the main building let alone get to the two additional buildings on the site.