From my earliest beginnings of thinking about the possibilities of travelling during my time in Israel I have had a burning desire to go to Greece and Turkey. Don’t ask me why but those were two places that I badly wanted to go. Although Greece has continued to elude me, I did get the chance to go to Turkey for the last part of my Spring Break and let me tell you, it was too amazing for words.
Instead of giving you a play by play of every single thing we did, I’ll share some highlights and stories and favorite memories, as well as lots of pictures. You can ask me for details in person should you so desire!
For anyone going to Istanbul, there are several “musts” to see: the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, various palaces, and other mosques. All of these were incredibly beautiful and I can see why tourists and pilgrims flock to Istanbul to see these masterpieces. I think the Hagia Sophia was my favorite. It was originally built by Justinian in the 6th century, over the ruins of 5th and 4th century churches that were destroyed for various reasons, but it was converted into a mosque after the Muslim conquest of 1453, so many of the brilliant Christian mosaics were covered in favor of the Muslim-style decoration (tiles and decorative Arabic writing). But the plaster used to cover the mosaics ironically helped preserve the mosaics so when the building was converted to a museum of sorts during the 20th century many of these mosaics were uncovered. What remains now is a beautiful mix of architectural and decorative elements from both Byzantine and Ottoman periods, with incredible myths, legends, and stories surrounding each piece. With the help of Rick Steves’ incredibly informative and enjoyable tour we spent several hours roaming and marveling at the stunning monument to religious, history, and culture.
I don’t want my raving about the Hagia Sophia to make you think that I didn’t appreciate all the other amazingly beautiful sites Istanbul has to offer. One of the things I loved most about the city was that when you walk around it feels like every single building has some kind of significance. In contrast to synagogues, and to a lesser extent churches, mosques are anything but inconspicuous. With towering minarets and huge domes, even the smallest and most modest mosque is a sight to behold. We went in probably half a dozen mosques (and still left dozens unvisited) yet each was its own masterpiece. You probably know that it is against Muslim practice to have any decoration that portrays a face or animal of any kind (at risk of showing an image of the divine), so all the decoration is floral, patterned, or decorative writing in Arabic. This makes for a striking interiors, especially when combined with the sheer majesty of the architecture of the domes. Mosques are just amazing. We went to A LOT.
(Me in front of the Blue Mosque)
(inside the Blue Mosque--it's HUGE and every inch is covered in gorgeous tiles)
(inside the Rustem Pasa Mosque)
No one can visit Istanbul without taking a trip to the various bazaars. We went to three, the Book Bazaar, the famous Spice Bazaar, and the even more famous Grand Bazaar (but these are just the pieces that are defined on a map….really the entirety of the old city is a huge bazaar, with the many sidestreets surrounding each of the big sites containing shop after shop of beautiful pottery, scarves, lamps, jewelry, and rugs, as well as the typical kitchy postcards, magnets, shot glasses, tshirts, etc. I just got so overwhelmed in all these places I didn’t know what to do. There was just so much…stuff. The Spice Bazaar was fantastic because every shop wanted us to sample THEIR Turkish Delight, which we were more than happy to do.
This brings me to a discussion of the food. Wow. What do I even say about the food. People have asked me what they eat in Turkey and my response has always been: lots of meat and great desserts. I had meatballs about a gazillion times but I wont complain because they were delicious. Bourekas or other bread-cheese-meat combinations for breakfast were amazingly delicious and SO cheap. We also had gallons of Turkish Tea, which I simply could not get enough of, and dessert after every single meal because there were so many to sample. My favorite was chocolate pudding which sounds ridiculous but there must have been several secret ingredients because this pudding (on several occasions from several places) was the most amazing pudding I’ve ever had. And of course baklava and Turkish Delight and other cakes and things were just incredible.
We also experienced a few authentically Turkish things: a Turkish bath (I’ve never felt so pampered in my life) and a Whirling Dervish ceremony. The Whirling Dervishes were VERY cool. They are Sufi Muslims (Sufism is the mystic form of Islam) and part of their prayer service is song and dance. The spinning they do in their dance gave them the nickname Whirling Dervish, and we had the chance to go to a cultural center to watch them. I was really impressed by their ability to spin so fast so long and remain so steady while doing it.
Here are some other observations/memories I have:
· Turkish Airlines is amazing. They had the most delicious airplane food I’ve ever tasted and endless options of free entertainment (I watched 4 episodes of How I Met Your Mother back to back nonstop. I wish it were a longer flight).
· One night, Dana and Zach and I had the urge to dance but didn’t want to go out because it was late and cold but we discovered that our hostel had roof access and there was a dance club next door so we could hear the music. This gave us the perfect set up for our own dance party. At one point we decided to play limbo with a large wooden rod we found leaning against the wall. It was wonderful. I will never forget dancing on the rooftops of Istanbul in the middle of the night…
· Finally, I feel I should say something about the unique nature of Istanbul itself as a city. It’s certainly like nothing I’ve ever seen before. People told me it was a very unique place but seeing it first hand (of course) showed me just how true that is. First of all, there is an incredible mix of very old and very new. Jerusalem is like that too, but since the Old City is walled it feels more fragmented. In Istanbul you can walk down the street and see mosque after mosque separated by huge European-style mansions, beautiful Orthodox churches, and hundreds of street vendors, while one street over will be a huge classy, modern, commercial shopping street. You really can see Asia and Europe coming together in one place, and the culture is really vibrant. I highly recommend a trip to Istanbul if you get the chance!!!
(view of the Golden Horn and Istanbul from the Galata Tower, an old toll tower and overlook in the new district, where our hostel was)
(what would we have done without our trusty guidebooks?)
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