I (Chris) arrived in Istanbul a day before my partner in adventure. This, it turned out, gave me ample time to amble around the Sultanahmet area and get propositioned by polite Turkish men who invited me to take tea while being shown their leather jackets / carpets / jewellery. Far from the pushy Del Boys I'd expected, all of these fellows were genuinely friendly and accepted the truth of 'I'm a poor backpacker' without much trouble, although I had to take their business cards in case of a change of heart.
Meanwhile ... Lisa was approaching Istanbul from the north. As usual she had taken the path less travelled and was on a bus full of Turkish people, having conversations in mime-language. In between the interminable border checks taking place the bus driver apparently took the opportunity to load up on duty free booze which he proceeded to hide in various places around the bus, including giving it to passengers to 'hold' during customs checks!
All of this culminated with an early morning reunion between the young lovers. Angels sang, hostellers wept and little cupids fluttered around the table as we enjoyed our hostel breakfast, with Lisa as freeloader of honour. After eating as much hummus as we could, we made our way to the flat we'd rented for a few days, not far from Little Hagia Sophia.
We decided to be ambitious on our first day and go to Asia. Why not, as it's only a short ferry ride away? Twenty minutes later we were a continent away, searching for a famous flea market. After carefully following the directions we found ourselves at what I think was the Fenerbahce football stadium. They must have moved the market; we couldn't be lost. Hey ho.
Next on the Asian side of the city, we bussed and trekked to our first mosque, Cinili Camii. It was a modest size compared to some we'd seen in passing but had beautiful blue ceramic tiles covering the inside. We then moved on to a larger example, Atik Valide Camii, which was the work of Mimar Sinan, a renowned architect under Suleyman the Magnificent.
On our return ferry from Asia we inadvertently took a boat that took us on a tour up the Golden Horn; the strip of water dividing the old town and the 'European' quarter. It was a bit like a commuter ferry really and we got to see several bridges and float past 'Miniaturk', a park containing liliputian models detailing the history and monuments of Turkey. Pity it was the last ferry of the day (at 8:30pm?!) and we had to bus it back to the center!
We had planned to go to the Hagia Sophia the next day but, upon seeing the queues, we decided to go to the Byzantine Cistern ... yes, a cistern. It was a lot grander than it sounds. A huge pillared cavern under the centre of the old town that could hold thousands of litres of water. Apparently it was forgotten until someone enquired how people in the neighbourhood were managing to lower buckets through their cellar floors and come up with fresh water! The details on some of the pillars, that hardly anyone would ever see, is amazing, including the giant Medusa heads.
The afternoon was spent wandering back through the bazaar district to get to the Suleymaniye Mosque, one of the biggest and most grand, on one of the seven hills of the city. Built by Suleyman the Magnificent in an attempt to better the design of Hagia Sophia, the sense of light and space was perfected here. The dome seemed to float and the windows were unusually colourful. We finished our visit with a stop at Sinan's grave, and a delicious cup of chay in the mosque's tea garden (formerly a soup kitchen).
The following day, we explored the souk, made up of the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar was indeed very grand. It was all under cover and had a myriad of archways and ceramic decorations. However, it did seem a bit touristy, with the special pricing that entails. Also, the regular shops on the streets surrounding this district seemed to be grouped according to product.There was a row of shops all selling some kind of under wear, then a bevy of places all purveying plastic toys and then a collection of places with hundreds of buckles and buttons in their windows. Is this an example of intelligent design?
The Spice Bazaar was, as you would expect, colourful and pungent! There were samples to try and coffee roasteries to inhale as we walked by. There was also a rather tidy mosque (Rustem Pasa Camii) hidden away on a terrace above the spice bazaar. Handy but all of those aromas must be distracting. On the way back to our place we also managed to find the shop founded by the creator of the first Turkish delight, where we sampled lemon, & coffee flavours and puzzled over 'mastic' flavour.
In the evening we took a stroll down to the Galata Bridge, which was restaurants down near the water located in the bridge itself. Here we followed the guide book's advice and tried a fish sandwich, served from a kitchen on a rather ornate boat. It was lovely and cheaper than the fishfinger sandwiches I remember having in pubs back home!
We crossed the bridge to the 'European Quarter' and took the 'Tunel' underground funicular up the hill. This contraption was built at the end of the nineteenth century (it's actually the 2nd oldest underground railway in the world - the first is the London Underground). At the top we walked blithely through the shopping district, which was very European-oriented, and through a demonstration followed by a large amount of police. It was one of those moments when you are aware that you have no idea what's going on and even when we asked a local, he couldn't explain what the demo was about either.
We eventually found our way to a bar in which we could sample the local firewater, raki. It tasted a little 'aniseedy' but was quite pleasant. Especially when it was accompanied by a guy proposing to his girlfriend on the next table. There was much applause from the crowd and encouragement from the live singer! After all this excitement we went on to a restaurant called the Istanbul Culinary Institute, where trainee chefs cooked us up some modern twists on traditional Turkish cuisine.
The next day we finally managed to get up early enough to visit the Hagia Sopia; the old Byzantine church that became a mosque and is now a museum. It's a big place, especially considering when it was constructed (the current structure was completed in 532) and for a millennium it had the largest unsupported dome in the world. It is interesting to see the merging of Islam and Christianity in one building - what was retained, what removed and what features were hidden but have latterly been rediscovered. My memory will be of the airiness of such a large building and the knowledge that the remaining golden mosaics once covered much more of the walls, which must have made the interior sparkle.
After shuffling around with other tourists we retired to a roof terrace with great views of the the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. It was particularly fantastic because we were there when the mosques did their calls to prayer, and you could hear them radiating in from every direction! After a cold beer, we walked back to our apartment along the promenade beside the Sea of Marmara, where you could see houses & other structures - both old & new - built right into the city walls.
On our final day it was time to venture into the Topkapi Palace. This place covers almost an entire peninsula within the old town and was the residence of Ottoman Sultans for hundreds of years. The history is too extensive to go into here but it was interesting how insulated the Sultans became over time, with the Sultan's own mother (the Valide Sultan), Grand Vizier and bureaucracy exercising ever more power. The buildings themselves reflected the numerous functionaries that were necessary for the Sultan's household, including concubines (slave girls, often from Russia - because they were the most beautiful! - who would be educated & trained in courtly behaviour, & might be lucky enough to bear the next sultan and become the Valide Sultan herself - not bad for a slave); as well as 'cages' for unwanted brothers ie. rivals for the throne. There were many treasures too, including the 'Topkapi Dagger'; an ornate and bejewelled knife that, for convenience, contains a watch in the pommel; and the Spoonmaker's Diamond (huge!!).
After a leisurely lunch of baklava and Turkish coffee (what else?), we continued onto the Sirkeci train station, where the Orient Express terminates, in order to see an exhibition of the 'sema' ceremony where Dervishes whirl in order to meditate. Part performance, part personal devotion, it was interesting and beautiful to watch. I did have initial reservations about intruding on this kind of prayer but it was done in such an un-self conscious way that I found I could watch unabashed as the figures twirled around, their colourful robes flaring dramatically. Indeed, one participant seemed to be attached to a wire, she was whirling so smoothly and serenely. In addition, the music on traditional instruments and singing that accompanied the ceremony also added to the spectacle.
We ended the evening with dinner at a nearby restaurant with the ultimate wise-cracking owner. He sent us down the road to the (non-existent) toilet and demanded customer participation in presenting the house speciality; some kind of dish baked in a pottery gourd that needed to be shattered before eating!
Finally, we retrieved our backpacks from the lockers in Sirkeci station, wedged ourselves on to the tram to the airport, achieved a remarkable amount of tasks there (posted a parcel - at 10:30pm; donated our guidebook and Akbil transport cards to an incoming traveller; repacked our bags so that everything actually fit!) and were summarily retrieved by the Royal Jordanian staff to board our flight to Amman!
Meanwhile ... Lisa was approaching Istanbul from the north. As usual she had taken the path less travelled and was on a bus full of Turkish people, having conversations in mime-language. In between the interminable border checks taking place the bus driver apparently took the opportunity to load up on duty free booze which he proceeded to hide in various places around the bus, including giving it to passengers to 'hold' during customs checks!
All of this culminated with an early morning reunion between the young lovers. Angels sang, hostellers wept and little cupids fluttered around the table as we enjoyed our hostel breakfast, with Lisa as freeloader of honour. After eating as much hummus as we could, we made our way to the flat we'd rented for a few days, not far from Little Hagia Sophia.
We decided to be ambitious on our first day and go to Asia. Why not, as it's only a short ferry ride away? Twenty minutes later we were a continent away, searching for a famous flea market. After carefully following the directions we found ourselves at what I think was the Fenerbahce football stadium. They must have moved the market; we couldn't be lost. Hey ho.
Next on the Asian side of the city, we bussed and trekked to our first mosque, Cinili Camii. It was a modest size compared to some we'd seen in passing but had beautiful blue ceramic tiles covering the inside. We then moved on to a larger example, Atik Valide Camii, which was the work of Mimar Sinan, a renowned architect under Suleyman the Magnificent.
On our return ferry from Asia we inadvertently took a boat that took us on a tour up the Golden Horn; the strip of water dividing the old town and the 'European' quarter. It was a bit like a commuter ferry really and we got to see several bridges and float past 'Miniaturk', a park containing liliputian models detailing the history and monuments of Turkey. Pity it was the last ferry of the day (at 8:30pm?!) and we had to bus it back to the center!
We had planned to go to the Hagia Sophia the next day but, upon seeing the queues, we decided to go to the Byzantine Cistern ... yes, a cistern. It was a lot grander than it sounds. A huge pillared cavern under the centre of the old town that could hold thousands of litres of water. Apparently it was forgotten until someone enquired how people in the neighbourhood were managing to lower buckets through their cellar floors and come up with fresh water! The details on some of the pillars, that hardly anyone would ever see, is amazing, including the giant Medusa heads.
The following day, we explored the souk, made up of the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar was indeed very grand. It was all under cover and had a myriad of archways and ceramic decorations. However, it did seem a bit touristy, with the special pricing that entails. Also, the regular shops on the streets surrounding this district seemed to be grouped according to product.There was a row of shops all selling some kind of under wear, then a bevy of places all purveying plastic toys and then a collection of places with hundreds of buckles and buttons in their windows. Is this an example of intelligent design?
The Spice Bazaar was, as you would expect, colourful and pungent! There were samples to try and coffee roasteries to inhale as we walked by. There was also a rather tidy mosque (Rustem Pasa Camii) hidden away on a terrace above the spice bazaar. Handy but all of those aromas must be distracting. On the way back to our place we also managed to find the shop founded by the creator of the first Turkish delight, where we sampled lemon, & coffee flavours and puzzled over 'mastic' flavour.In the evening we took a stroll down to the Galata Bridge, which was restaurants down near the water located in the bridge itself. Here we followed the guide book's advice and tried a fish sandwich, served from a kitchen on a rather ornate boat. It was lovely and cheaper than the fishfinger sandwiches I remember having in pubs back home!
We crossed the bridge to the 'European Quarter' and took the 'Tunel' underground funicular up the hill. This contraption was built at the end of the nineteenth century (it's actually the 2nd oldest underground railway in the world - the first is the London Underground). At the top we walked blithely through the shopping district, which was very European-oriented, and through a demonstration followed by a large amount of police. It was one of those moments when you are aware that you have no idea what's going on and even when we asked a local, he couldn't explain what the demo was about either.
We eventually found our way to a bar in which we could sample the local firewater, raki. It tasted a little 'aniseedy' but was quite pleasant. Especially when it was accompanied by a guy proposing to his girlfriend on the next table. There was much applause from the crowd and encouragement from the live singer! After all this excitement we went on to a restaurant called the Istanbul Culinary Institute, where trainee chefs cooked us up some modern twists on traditional Turkish cuisine.
The next day we finally managed to get up early enough to visit the Hagia Sopia; the old Byzantine church that became a mosque and is now a museum. It's a big place, especially considering when it was constructed (the current structure was completed in 532) and for a millennium it had the largest unsupported dome in the world. It is interesting to see the merging of Islam and Christianity in one building - what was retained, what removed and what features were hidden but have latterly been rediscovered. My memory will be of the airiness of such a large building and the knowledge that the remaining golden mosaics once covered much more of the walls, which must have made the interior sparkle.
On our final day it was time to venture into the Topkapi Palace. This place covers almost an entire peninsula within the old town and was the residence of Ottoman Sultans for hundreds of years. The history is too extensive to go into here but it was interesting how insulated the Sultans became over time, with the Sultan's own mother (the Valide Sultan), Grand Vizier and bureaucracy exercising ever more power. The buildings themselves reflected the numerous functionaries that were necessary for the Sultan's household, including concubines (slave girls, often from Russia - because they were the most beautiful! - who would be educated & trained in courtly behaviour, & might be lucky enough to bear the next sultan and become the Valide Sultan herself - not bad for a slave); as well as 'cages' for unwanted brothers ie. rivals for the throne. There were many treasures too, including the 'Topkapi Dagger'; an ornate and bejewelled knife that, for convenience, contains a watch in the pommel; and the Spoonmaker's Diamond (huge!!).
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| Baklava - spoilt for choice! |
We ended the evening with dinner at a nearby restaurant with the ultimate wise-cracking owner. He sent us down the road to the (non-existent) toilet and demanded customer participation in presenting the house speciality; some kind of dish baked in a pottery gourd that needed to be shattered before eating!Finally, we retrieved our backpacks from the lockers in Sirkeci station, wedged ourselves on to the tram to the airport, achieved a remarkable amount of tasks there (posted a parcel - at 10:30pm; donated our guidebook and Akbil transport cards to an incoming traveller; repacked our bags so that everything actually fit!) and were summarily retrieved by the Royal Jordanian staff to board our flight to Amman!
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