Istanbul

Istanbul October 28, 2011

After a long day and a half of travel we have arrived in Istanbul. Walking out the gangway from the plane Ataturk Airport looked like any other airport in the world. But after about a hundred yard walk down the concourse we knew we weren’t in Kansas anymore. We came upon about 100 people kneeling on the concourse floor, facing Mecca and praying. Most of these people were in long robes, all had taken their shoes off. They were kneeling in neat rows with the men in the front rows and the women in the back. There was silent prayer and then group prayers said aloud. It was all very fascinating.

U.S. Homeland Security would be appalled and the Treasury Department envious of the manner in which visa’s are obtained. Our experience in the past is that one must apply for a visa in advance of entering a country. Presumably, the country one is getting a visa from does a security check, albeit a perfunctory one in most cases, before issuing the visa. Entering Turkey you get in line at the window with a sign indicating “Visas”, present your passport and $20.00 and the person behind the window peels a stamp off of a sheet and places it in your passport and you are on your way. What an easy way to make money. Of course, you spend your whole time looking over your shoulder. Just kidding.

A car from our hotel met us at the airport and we had about a 30 minute ride into Istanbul. It was dark by the time we arrived so we could not see what the landscape looked like. The drive into town took us along the seacoast so the lights were pretty. Our hotel is located in the old town section of Istanbul. Once we turned off the main highway in from the airport we went through a series of narrow, cobblestone streets going up hill and down and curving all around. There were several blocks that had nothing in the way of shops where you would not want to be after dark followed immediately by several blocks of hotels, restaurants and stores, all brightly lit with lots of people about. It was an exhilarating ride to say the least. We are in a nice hotel and we are thrilled with the view from our room. We look directly at the Haghia Sophia, a Byzantine church, and one of the major tourist sites in Istanbul. Dinner was on the roof top terrace of our hotel with views of the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the colorfully lit Bosphorus Bridge. Needless to say, our trip has started on a high note.

Saturday-

Before flying to Turkey we had booked an all day tour of Istanbul on line. We assumed we would be in a small tour bus with other tourists. Turns out we had a guide to ourselves for the whole day. The first three sites on our tour were all within walking distance of the hotel. Our first stop was the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque was built in the 17th century by the reigning sultan. It is called the Blue Mosque because all of the tile work in the Mosque is done in blue. It is incredibly beautiful. We had to take off our shoes before entering; we were given plastic bags to put our shoes in and carry with us. The Mosque has no pews or chairs in it. There is a wooden railing that separates this large open area into ¼ for the tourists to stand and take pictures and the other ¾’s is for people who come in to pray. Five times during the day there is a call to prayer, which we have yet to hear, that brings a large number of people to the Mosque to pray. There were only a very few individuals praying while we were there. Because this Mosque was built by the sultan there was a special area in a balcony where he would pray. We also saw the section at the back of the Mosque reserved for “women only.”

From the Blue Mosque we literally walked across the street to the Haghia Sophia which means “Holy Wisdom“. This Mosque has quite a convoluted history. It was built in the 2nd century B.C. as a Christian Church. During the 4th and 5th centuries is was destroyed twice by fire and rioting. (As an aside, as I am writing this we are hearing our first call to prayer broadcast over large speakers that we saw this morning suspended on the minarets. - Tim) The third reincarnation of the Church occurred in the 5th century. Sometime during this time it became an Orthodox Church. During the Christian Crusades it reverted back to a Christian Church and than in the 14th century it became a Mosque. Interestingly, when it was converted to a Mosque, the Christian icons were not destroyed but merely plastered over. In 1931 it was closed for renovations and when it reopened in 1935 it reopened as a museum rather than a Mosque. What is particularly bizarre is the fact that a mosaic of Mary holding the baby Jesus hangs over the alter area while all around the museum are symbols of Islam. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the Haghia Sophia is not as well preserved as the Blue Mosque. Of course it is over a thousand years older.

Leaving the Haghia Sophia we walked around the corner to the Topkapi Palace. The Topkapi Palace was the home of the Sultans who ruled Turkey from the time of the Ottoman Empire until 1918 when Ataturk lead a revolt that forced the Sultan and his family to flee the country. There were several different buildings around the Palace grounds that we toured. There was a large collection on display of very valuable bejeweled gifts given to the Sultans. Of particular interest was a dagger that had three humungous emeralds displayed on it. This was actually a gift the Sultan had made to give to a neighboring ruler. While traveling to this ruler’s home to present the gift, word reached the Sultan that the ruler had died, so the Sultan turned around and came home, keeping the dagger for himself. This dagger was featured in a 1960’s movie called “Topkapi”. Also on display was a 86 carat diamond. This stone was discovered by a peasant who sold it to another peasant for three silver spoons. It was resold for 100 spoons. When the second peasant discovered that he had possession of a huge diamond, not just some shiny stone, he gave it to the Sultan as a gift. The diamond is now called the gift of the silver spoon.

Unfortunately today is a National Holiday in Turkey which means that both the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market were closed. We are very disappointed because they are both also closed on Sunday so we will not get to see them tomorrow. Guess we will have to come back to Istanbul sometime. The good news is that our guide had a great plan B. First he took us to a carpet shop. Carpet making, think Persian rugs, is big business in Turkey. We were in a beautiful store where we were invited into a show room and given tea and coffee while a salesman told us about the process of making the rugs. He even brought in a weaver who demonstrated how hand made rugs are made, taking particular pride in the fact that all of their rugs are woven using a double knot technique that results in a more durable, longer lasting rug than the single knot technique. Than he started showing us rugs. The first rug he showed us cost $3900. When we declined because it was not our style he suddenly displayed the only contemporary Persian rugs you will probably ever see. He even offered us a 40% discount on a rug because it was last year’s model! We kid you not. From the carpet store we went by van to the new section of Istanbul where our guide walked us down Liberty Street, the main shopping street in Istanbul. The street was wall to wall people, all locals, with the only vehicles being police cars and trolleys. We went into a couple of shops of our choosing but otherwise just enjoyed the festive atmosphere in the street. We met back up with our van and returned to our hotel. Our guide, Sinan, was very friendly, had a wonderful sense of humor, and was well versed in the history of the sites we visited. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day. We are now resting in preparation for going out to dinner which should be and adventure. More later.

After perusing menus at maybe 10 different restaurants we found one we thought looked promising. It was a wonderful choice. We started with hummus served with freshly baked pita bread. Lynda ordered chicken hiarmosa, pieces of chicken with tomato, peppers and pine nuts in a cream sauce served with rice. Tim ordered a kebab with pistachio, grilled chunks of minced beef and lamb marinated in a pistachio sauce served with rice and grilled tomatoes and peppers. Both were excellent although Lynda liked Tim’s more than her own. We both drank house wine, presumably made in Turkey and were pleasantly surprised at the good quality of the wine. Our table was right next to a couple from Long Island, NY whose son has been accepted at the University of Michigan Law School. Tim was good and never once mentioned MSU’s four game winning streak with Michigan. We both agreed that our dining in Istanbul had been everything that we had hoped for.

Tomorrow we will geocached in the morning. Lynda has found a couple near Haghia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace. We will also go over by the Spice Market and hope that it is open. If not, our guide today told us that there are shops in the area of the Spice Market that offer the same products at a bit cheaper price. In the afternoon we board our cruise ship. Our next blog will probably be after our first port of call on Tuesday. See you then.

Lynda and Tim