Istanbul: the Bosphorus!

On the sunniest afternoon of our stay, we ventured off-land and onto a boat cruise of the Bosphorus Strait. The Bosphorus runs through the middle of Istanbul, separating the European side from the Asian side. The cruise gave us to see what was along the shoreline on both sides and we even got to go to Asia for some delicious yogurt!

European side

another palace

my travel-mates and I 

(plus the Bosphorus Bridge)

an old fortress

the Asian side

Istanbul really was a wonderful place to go. I'd recommend it to anyone and would love to go back one day!

More Istanbul

After a morning at the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and Roman Cisterns, we spent our afternoon at Topkapi Palace (try saying that 5 times fast because I could barely get it out 1 time slowly). The palace grounds are made up of many beautiful buildings which have all been converted into various museums. The museums were full of interesting exhibits and artifacts. There were lots of jewels, pottery, clothing from the Ottoman empire, and many other things. I even saw Moses’ cane, John the Baptist’s skull and forearm (or what’s left of it), and Abraham’s pot. Or at least that’s what the plaques told me I saw and I wanted to believe. Unfortunately there were no pictures allowed. Luckily I could take the pictures of the gorgeous grounds and views from the grounds along with some of the intricately decorated rooms on display. I’ve already decided that my first home will be full of Turkish tiling.

Outside the palace entrance

palace entrance

view of the Bosphorus

We affectionately referred to our second morning in Istanbul as our “bazaar” morning (it makes more sense when you say it out loud). Istanbul is famous for its enormous bazaars packed with thousands of vendors who sell everything from Prada wallets to pashminas to evil eye earings. And, of course, pottery. Lots and lots and lots of pottery. It is literally a maze of brightly lit and decorated corridors that make it easy to get sucked into shopping and not so easy to get out.

So we started with the biggest and the most famous: the Grand Bazaar. It was quite an experience. Aggressive sales techniques were at their peak and we had fun navigating the practice of haggling with vendors. We all bought plenty to pack our suitcases full.

one of the many entrances

The following morning we visited Istanbul's other famous bazaar: the Spice Bazaar. At this point, we were shopped out and our suitcases were packed to the brim, so we did much more browsing than buying. But, it was once again an experience.

Istanbul, not Constantinople

I made it to the outer edges of Europe (and even a little into Asia) last week in my voyage to Istanbul, Turkey. It was a very interesting city with, as we all learned in school, a lot of history. To be in a place that traces its history back to B.C. was a very cool experience.

It could not have been more different than French culture. I knew it the minute we checked into the hotel when the man at the desk looked slowly at each of our passports, read our names allowed, then looked at us and said (read with thick Turkish accent), "I may have to change my name to Charlie because you are all angels."

Generally, people (and by that, I mean men) were extremely forward. Store owners stood almost exclusively outside of their stores and yelled for everyone who walked by to come in. And they don't ask; they demand. Or they beg and plead. Some of our favorite cries were: "Why are you breaking my heart?!" or "Why do you hate me? I know you hate me, but why!" But, for what it's worth, they were also extremely friendly. If we did go into a shop, they would ask our names (which some remembered as we walked by two or three days later), where we're from, what we'd seen in Istanbul, if we were enjoying ourselves, etc. Within a few hours in Turkey, one vendor declared himself our first Turkish friend.

So overall it was a great experience and a lot of fun. I managed to take close to 400 pictures in the 4 days we were there, so here are some of the highlights:

Our first stop was the Blue Mosque, which is Istanbul's oldest mosque. It was built in the early 1600s under the Ottoman Empire. It is called the Blue Mosque because its interior decorations are mostly blue.

The Blue Mosque was less than a five minute walk from our hotel so we passed it often and it was always an exciting sight to see. We also had the pleasure of experiencing its call to prayer, which involves a man calling out over a loudspeaker 5 times a day, including what we guessed to be around 5am although none of us managed to check a clock.

Across the street from the Blue Mosque is arguably Istanbul's most famous sight:  the Hagia Sophia (or Saint Sophia). It was built under the order of Emperor Justinian in 537. It served as a Christian Cathedral for 900 years until it was converted to a Mosque in the 1400s. Today, it is a museum.

Our third stop was also right across the street at the Roman Cisterns. The Cisterns are ancient underground columns. It was very dark so it was hard to get good pictures, but it was really beautiful.

One of the mysteries of the Roman Cisterns are two columns with giant sculpted heads of Medusa at the base. It is unknown how they got there. People also wonder about the positions of the heads. One is upside down, while the other is on its side.

I have many more pictures and sights to share, but along with all of those I brought back a nasty Turkish virus with me so I am going to take a break and blog more tomorrow!