We arrived in Istanbul with some knowledge of the process for getting our visa and entering the country, which was helpful. As US citizen we had to “buy” a visa at the airport for $20 US dollars – they only accept dollars and Euros so you had to be prepared. Then we stood in the long immigration line and passed through an infrared camera to make sure we didn’t have a fever and in turn swine flu (we already filled out a questionnaire on the plane about it).
Once in the country we were greeted with sunshine and warmth! We arrived at our cute little hotel in the old town area, called Sultanahmet, our room was great and air conditioned (which is very important!). We headed out to see some sights. We walked across town to the Galata Bridge, which connects the “new” and “old” side of European Istanbul. Istanbul is huge – 15 million people separated by two main bodies of water so the port is very busy with commuter ferries. Istanbul is also on two continents – Europe and Asia- most of the tourist’s stuff is in Europe but we do get to Asia at the end of our trip. Back to the bridge – locals fish off the bridge to earn extra money so we saw lots of fisherman mostly catching little fish like sardines, anchovies and herring. After the bridge we hiked up a huge hill to Galata Tower. It was built in the 14th century to help protect the city but is now a tourist view point and restaurant. We saw some nice views but the city was polluted that day so the pictures are not great. We noticed a lot of pollution the first two days but the last two days were crystal clear. Next we walked up Istiklal Street, which is in the new part of the city and is a big outdoor shopping street. Most people were Turkish and we wandered for quite awhile taking in the sights and smells. Finally we found a place for dinner (kebab of course) and then walked back to the hotel.
The next day was Friday so we decided to avoid the mosques since this is an important and busy day in Islam and instead headed to Topkapi Palace. It is in a prime location in the old town – it was built in 1470 by Sultan Mehmet as an administrative center and palace. It is well preserved (and cost us a small fortune to tour) and very impressive. It is beautifully landscaped and includes the Sultan’s Harem. The Harem was really interesting on many levels- it was where the Sultan lived so it was really pretty with tons of tile work and wood inlay. But the story of the harem was also really interesting – different then I expected – the Sultan wasn’t allowed to pick the women he had relations with – his mother (who lived with him) choose them. The had up to four wives and his mother could choose four “favorites” of the concubines which he could “know better” but he had no say in this. There were hundreds of concubines, which were there to serve the wives and mother – basically slaves unless the mother chooses them as a favorite. The children also lived and were educated in the Harem – the whole Harem was protected by what they called the “Black Eunuchs” which were slaves from North Africa trained to serve in the Harem and by the way were castrated so there wouldn’t be any issues. Other then the Harem Topkapi has some beautiful buildings and great views. The most famous stuff though includes the Topkapi Dagger and the Spoonmaker’s Diamond that is 86-carets. Another interesting area was the Hall of Holy Relics, which included some of the most significant holy items in Islam including the footprint of Muhammad and his hair and tooth.
As we wandered to lunch we were treated to one of the many “calls to prayer” – this was Friday midday worship which is the most important. I can’t quite explain how neat the call to prayer is – it is beautiful and eerie at the same time. In the old town there must be 8 mosques within view so you hear the call from each minaret and it almost seems like they are calling and answering each other. I was very taken with it and loved to hear it every time (5 times a day).
We had lunch at a famous Turkish meatball place – it was good! Then we headed to the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is HUGE- it was a first mall ever and now has 4,000 stores. It is a bit intimidating since all the vendors want to sell to you and talk to you. We wandered for a long time before we had the nerve to try to buy anything. We ended up with a small Turkish rug that we will hand on the wall thanks to two dogs. The rug is silk and really pretty- we did bargain but in the end who knows if we got a deal or not – but it was quite an experience.
Some observations after the first two days:
- The city is much greener then expected and every green space is well landscaped
- The food is good and reasonably priced!
- The Turkish people are nice and inviting – they want to share their city and culture with you – they say hello and smile at you. They also want to sell you things but when you say “no thanks” they are very nice still.
- The city is pretty clean but there are lots of stray cats
- Experiencing a Muslim culture/city is a great experience – it is nice to see the culture in it’s own setting and within it’s own norms. I knew I was out of place but at the same time I never felt out of place- I never got weird looks which I am sure most Muslim women in traditional dress cannot say in America.
Pictures and more stories still to come!
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