Sang that song on repeat for days...
Blue Mosque.
Inside the mosque.
No shoes allowed.
They also hand out headscarves for anyone that doesn't have one; the hair must be covered to enter the mosque.
Note the guy with the machine gun. I later found out they're associated with a military base right inside.
The one photo I got in the calligraphy exhibit before being chastised by a staff member.
Inside the haram.
The tilework is so amazing in these places.
Turkish delights and other goodies. If the Turks can do anything amazingly right, it's sweets. Turkish delights are so oddly wonderful; gelatinous morsels made with sugar or, even better, honey, and usually containing nuts and rolled in anything from saffron to rose petals. This was also where we got Amitabh his first taste of baklava.
Finally, Istanbul!
I went to Istanbul twice during my two weeks in Turkey, the first time for five nights and the second for another three. Honestly I could have spent weeks there, but it was a good showing nonetheless.
Istanbul is definitely one of the most amazing places I've ever had the privilege of visiting. I highly recommend it.
I stayed in a great little hostel in Sultanahmet, which is the neighborhood with the Blue Mosque. Bahaus Hostel, thank you, you guys rocked!
Sultanahmet is a very touristy district, but it's beautiful, easy to get to and from, and full of places to see and things to do. I loved every minute of it.
On the way to the hostel the first time I passed directly between Hagia Sofia and The Blue Mosque. Excellent to have such obvious landmarks if you go out drinking; every taxi driver in the city can get you home even if you're hopelessly lost.
So of course one of the first things I did the next morning was wander the neighborhood.
Hagia Sofia.
The courtyard of the Blue Mosque.
The Topkapi palace was also right nearby, so that became my next stop.
Entering the Topkapi palace complex.
So, the Topkapi palace was nice and all, but I think I'm getting a bit palace-d out. There was a whole wing of religious artifacts that I found interesting. For example, they claim to have the staff of Moses. How they claim they can authenticate something like that stumps the hell out of me. But really all I wanted to do was see the haram, which, as it turns out, is not included in the ticket price that gets you in the complex itself. No, that's an additional 15 lira, thank you very much.
So, in continuance of my wandering, I found some pretty cool stuff, all within a few blocks of the hostel.
One of the smaller bazaars.
By this point I was, unsurprisingly, starving (I almost never make it for breakfast even when it's included in the price of the hostel. Eating that early just doesn't do it for me). So I found a table outside in the sun and proceeded to have my second meal in Turkey, the first being a quick dinner the night before of chicken kebab.
It was here I was introduced to ezme, which is a spicy chili tomato paste that they serve with everything. It's absolutely freaking amazing, and I will be learning how to make it. The heat level varies from place to place, but with some kebab, bread, and yogurt sauce, it's heaven.
And here was the rest of my lunch, some sort of wrap-like concoction with rice pilaf (the ubiquitous side dish), french fries, and yogurt sauce.
I didn't accomplish a whole lot else that day, but went back to the hostel to hang out at the rooftop bar where I indulged in several beers with new friends. We all went out for dinner that night, where we thoroughly irritated the staff by practicing how to say "thank you" repetitively (teshekir ederim - it's fucking complicated so practice was necessary) and they forgot my meal so I got to awkwardly wait longer for my food and be the last one eating. But, all's well that ends well.
The next morning I met up with Amitabh, my new Canadian friend, and we made our way over to the Grand Bazaar.
It would not be difficult to get lost in there.
We then took a jaunt to the Spice Market, which is officially my favorite place in all of Istanbul for the smell alone.
The spice market is so wonderfully bright and colorful, I could go there every day and never get bored.
We then made our way over one of the bridges towards Beyoglu, another neighborhood of Istanbul which is bursting with things to do. On the way we noted these boats, which are actually working kitchens for restaurants set up on shore.
On the other side of the bridge Amitabh directed me towards this spot for picture taking, then admitted he had an ulterior motive; there's a Starbucks nearby. I've never met anyone quite so obsessive about Starbucks lattes.
A latte, a tea, and a couple pieces of baklava later, we made our way to the Galata tower, which you can go to the top of but, being cheap, we didn't pay for it.
After a couple trams (including one operated by a large cable underground) we wandered through Taksim, grabbing the Turkish equivalent of fast food (where as an aside a small child begging on the street brutally pinched my cheek in an apparent effort to get me to give her money. If I wasn't inclined before...) and then a couple beers before heading back towards the hostel.
Hagia Sofia at night.
The Blue Mosque at night.
Oh, and a quick stop for tea on the way, where we got to watch part of a whirling dervish show as an added bonus.
My Canadian buddy wasn't too impressed with this until I pointed out just how dizzy I would imagine something like this would make you.
Another night on the rooftop at the bar a accompanied by a painfully late (or early, depending on how you look at it) bedtime and I woke up having a serious disagreement with my body in general.
The result of this was a quick trip for lunch, followed by a full day relaxing in the sun upstairs on the roof writing postcards to the family.
Views from the rooftop.
My last day before heading onto Cappadocia was supremely uninteresting and photo-less. So there you have it.
By the time I returned to Istanbul, having survived both the flu and the hippied-out hostel in Izmir, I had heard from a fellow travel mate I met in Portugal who was also staying in Istanbul so I found myself roomies with Aussie Jarred again. This time I was in the 14 bed dorm which, despite my hesitation, turned out to be excellent and actually an improvement over the smaller dorms.
I spent another two days in Istanbul, punctuated by another trip to the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market, a walk through Taksim, a visit to the Archaeological Museum, and, against my better judgement (but no challenge to convince me), a pub crawl. I also bought a massive box of Turkish delights which I shared with my hostel mates, and some spices which are now awaiting me back home.
Buying seeds for odd Turkish vegetables for my garden back home.
I wish I could have taken some of the bulk seeds but was sternly told by the owner of the shop that those cant leave the country. Fiiiiine...
Archaeological museum.
Mummy!
Egyptian god/goddess figures.
Spent a lot of time puzzling over this guy, which is apparently a dragon.
Ancient writings.
I found this especially interesting, because if you look at the next picture the description says its a "mythological being." Apparently hermaphrodites are mythological in certain parts of the world? Puzzling but not unexpected for a seriously religious country I suppose.
Part of the chain that used to block off part of the Istanbul harbor to keep marauding armies and their ships out. A rather simple but ingenious idea.
Ancient Syrian statues that for some reason are faceless.
Taksim.
The trolley car that you can hop on if you don't want to walk all the way through Taksim.
Lunch salad with bulgur, spices, green onions, and parsley. Yuuuum.
Onions stuffed with meat. There was supposed to be a pomegranate sauce, but I didn't get any. Delicious anyway.
My last night in Istanbul, I was talking to a girl at the hostel who was crocheting, and I told her my best friend Simone makes me crocheted jellyfish. Sarah immediately started on her own and dedicated this little guy to Bahaus hostel. Here is the new hostel mascot, featured with Dustie, one of their amazing staff members.
As you can see I'm not to be credited with the last series of shots, which were taken at the first bar on our pub crawl. I am quite happy the subsequent bars did not have photographers.
Just hamming it up.
Funniest thing is I realized just yesterday that this was the last time I saw that shirt, which I suspect was left in the hostel when I packed up in the morning. Considering I went to bed when the sun was rising to wake up three hours later and catch a plane, I can't say I'm surprised I didn't have my shit together.
So I said goodbye to Istanbul and the awesome people I met (and ran into again) there. The hangover gods took pity on me because on a nearly full flight I had the entire row to myself and slept the whole way to Dublin. I still feel like two weeks in Turkey wasn't even close to enough and I definitely will be heading back if I can.
And if you're wondering why I'm such a slacker for taking so damn long to write this post, it's because I had about a million photos to sort through.
I'll try to update you all again soon. Until next time!
~Swan
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