Istanbul

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This entry comes two weeks past due because I just had a wonderful week and a half with my parents.

By far my favorite of our excursions to date, Istanbul provided for much more than we could have ever bargained for. With no expectations in mind of our travels even further east, my roommate Nick and I set out for Turkey on the Thursday before our spring break. With great hopes of escaping the cold winter weathers of Hungary for some much needed warmer weather coming up from the Mediterranean, the Aegean, and the Black Seas, we landed to slightly warmer, but very rainy, weather. Nevertheless, we were excited to arrive. After over an hour trying to find our hostel, and Nick and I trudging through small side streets with our gear in torrential downpours, we finally arrived to Mavi Guesthouse with the aid of about five incredibly friendly Turks. The first thing we learned is that we were in by far the most hospitable place we had yet visited. And our hostel was the exact same - with a great breakfast every morning, topped off with Apple tea or Chai (traditional Turkish tea). After checking in I was greeted by a nice surprise of a note left from someone I had not seen since high school - Erin - who was studying abroad in Istanbul. To break us into this massive city (with 15 million residents) she took us to a very cool restaurant with some of her friends and to play backgammon afterwards. The density of Istanbul is nothing short of amazing - like San Francisco but on a much, much larger scale. This first night's introduction was great.

Friday - Nick and I set out to search around our hostel before Maryann and her friend Kelli arrived from Budapest. Waking up to realize that we could see Aya Sofya, or Hagia Sophia, from our window was one of the best treats I could have asked for - as I have studied that particular building in almost each one of my semesters of architecture school. [Brief history - Aya Sofya was founded in the mid 6th century by Emperor Justinian and was declared a Christian house of worship, seeing that Istanbul, or then, Byzantium, was the center for the Eastern Orthodox religion. It remained so until the mid 15th century when a Muslim conquest occurred and the building was turned into a mosque. The best part is that the mosaics and relics from the Christian use are still there today, and were not removed for Muslim use. The sheer size of this building is breathtaking.] Directly across Aya Sofya is the Blue Mosque, which is one of the most notable mosques in the world, and one that has six minarets - being the only other mosque to have so many minarets other than Mecca itself. I was in architectural heaven. From there we took municipal transit and were packed in like sardines for an hour to get to the airport to pick up the girls. Once they arrived we checked them in and took them around town. Seeing all the bazaars made them excited for the shopping to come - and in walking down the street we met our newest friend, Tom Jones. Not really Tom Jones, but that is what he liked to call himself. He wanted us to come into his restaurant so badly, and with so many promises of free and/or discounted food that we promised we would be back that night. (A common thing, since we were literally the only Caucasians we saw for days on end, was for shop owners to come out and approach us to get us into their restaurants). Ending up at that restaurant that night we ate dinner and then were ready to leave - but Mr. Jones wasn't ready for us to leave just yet. He proceeded to start a dancing party with the few people in the tiny restaurant, and had all of us doing classic Turkish dances - a very cool experience. This was cool until he started playing bad American pop music and doing his own dances, which were a sight to see in themselves, and wouldn't let us leave until he was done. About an hour and a half later we finally escaped the restaurant, unable to catch our breaths from laughing and wondering - did that really just happen?

Saturday - After an early breakfast, we decide to head out to see some more of this incredible place. Walking to bazaar after bazaar, and being hounded by every shop owner saying "My friend! My friend!. . ." we eventually decided to venture away from Sultanahmet (where our hostel was) to see another side of Istanbul, and to hopefully catch a soccer game. Once there and about to buy tickets, we were hit by one of the biggest hail/rain/thunder/lightning storms I have ever been in - and once we sought refuge in a local cafe, we left a puddle on the floor from our being so wet. However, with Maryann's excellent encouragement, we pressed on to get our tickets for the game - she could tell this was something I did not want to miss. After being unable to read the ticket due to our extreme lack of knowledge of Turkish, we finally got into the correct gate at the stadium with the help of more friendly locals after about four failed attempts and circumnavigating the stadium multiple times. When the game started, and with 50,000 screaming Turks (for a domestic club match, nonetheless) is was every bit worth it. Easily one of the coolest things we have done over here.

Sunday - The visit of Aya Sofya finally happened. The history of the building was so alive in every piece of stone and mortar that was crumbling, and the height of the main dome was astounding. The techniques that the peoples of that time used in order to create such massive works of architecture will always amaze me. From there, more bazaar searching occurred and lasted the majority of the day. From the small bazaars outside of Aya Sofya to the Grand Bazaar's outdoor shops, we got plenty of haggling opportunities in that day. My favorite instance was when I was approached by one shop owner who said "My friend! My friend! Where are you from? Germany?" - "No!" - "Holland?" - "No!" - "Switzerland?" - "No!" - "Mars?" - "Yes! Mars!" We were frequently asked where we were from because being from half a world away usually meant that we carried more money. I came to the conclusion here that if one was depressed or did not have many friends, they should just come to Istanbul, where everyone is your friend! As the day carried on, we wandered aimlessly and soaked up as much of the culture as possible.

Monday - Since now the Grand Bazaar was actually open, we decided to visit the massive tourist stop and see what it was all about. Insanity. Shops squeezed in everywhere with things that just made it seem as though it were the black market on a large scale made this fantastic. This was short lived as Maryann and Kelli were leaving for the airport soon. Before she left, we both ate a kebab in front of Aya Sofya - an awesome way to end our trip together. From there, I took Maryann to the airport and came back feeling very claustrophobic from transit, so Nick and I decided to relax by playing backgammon at a local joint called 'backpackers' which would be the following night's destination as well.

Tuesday - The last major historical thing to see in Sultanahmet was the Basilica Cistern. This cistern was constructed in the 6th Century also by Emperor Justinian, can hold 27 million gallons of water, is the size of two football fields, and has a colonnade that consisted of Roman historical influence. Completely lit up and with an ambiance created, this with a sight to see. The craziest part was that it was directly under everything we had been doing - the tram lines, restaurants, shops, and the whole busy city was just above where we were. From there we made our way to a bridge that connects land masses over the Golden Horn, which is a strip of water that runs up from the Bosphorous Straight - which connects Asia to Europe. Here, we had the freshest fish sandwich - as it would be caught, cleaned, and cooked within a matter of minutes. Incredibly delicious. More wandering and taking in the massive views of the city led us to relaxation and backgammon with apple tea at Backpackers again that night.

Wednesday - We wake early, eat, and pack for the trip home.

Istanbul was an absolutely amazing journey. It was the greatest form of separation that we have had, as we journeyed even further from our home. Being in a country where the national religion is Islam was also very interesting, and seeing their faith and devotion to their religion was incredible. The cultural pride is ever strong, and the sense of love for their city's history and development over centuries is very present. The culture is alive, the people were incredibly friendly, and I honestly loved being called everyone's 'friend,' as my skin color made me stand out like I never have before - it was truly something to experience.

Thanks for reading.