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Breakfast
We started out the day at this bakery just down the street
from our hotel. To the right, you see the simit (basically, is's
like a bagel) we ate with some tea. One of the simit had sesame
and cheese in it. The other was softer and had oil-cured olives
mixed in it. It was a great way to start the day. Turns out,
this became our daily routine. |
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| Once fueled up by our simit, we got on the train
and headed to the area of Istanbul where the historical sites
were located. It wasn't a very long trip and the train took us
past several sections of the city that we were going to visit
later on in the week. We made a mental note of the stops closest
to these destinations so we'd know where to exit the train later.
Eventually, we ended up at the stop for the Blue Mosque, the
Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace...three things on our list
to see today. We stepped off the train and headed towards the
Blue Mosque first. It was a pretty crowded day. Personally, I
was hoping to get insulated in the crowd so that we could be
protected a bit from any vendors selling to the tourists. |
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The Blue Mosque
As we approached, we passed by this oblisk just outside the
Blue Mosque. To the right, you can see most of the mosque from
a distance. It looked HUGE. I was looking forward to seeing
what the inside looked like. With that, we headed to the entrance
along with the crowd. |
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We walked into the courtyard area where I took this picture
you see on the left. It's a very impressive building.
To the right, you see Yener in front of the entrance into
this courtyard area.
Once inside here, we were approached by a guy who claimed
he was there to practice his English and help assist toursts
for free. He followed us to the entrance of the actual mosque.
The inside was beautiful! We spent a few minutes inside and then
we headed back out. We made a donation at the exit and we were
greeted again by our "friend" from the beginning of the tour.
He asked us how things went and then tried to direct us to his
family's shop to "just look at" some of the products he had there.
We thanked him, but walked away. |
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As we walked away from the mosque, I took a picture of the
back. In the picture on the left, you can see a simit seller...just
in case you needed something to eat.
On the right, you see a picture of one of the many flower
gardens that were outside of the mosque. |
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Topkapi Palace Museum
After the Blue Mosque, we toward the Topkapi Palace where
the Sultans used to live. It's now a museum featuring cultural
artifacts, royal jewelry, and items acquired as either spoils
of war or gifts from other leaders. The complex was huge and
very ornate.
We looked in the treasury, but we were not allowed to take
photographs there. It's rather unfortunate, since there were
some GORGEOUS pieces stored there. |
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Upon entering the palace complex (for 10
YTL per person), there is a spot where you can examine models
of the complex. To the left, you see an overview of the entire
area, including the huge wall that surrounded the palace grounds
as well as the other auxilliary buildings. On the right, you
see the model of the palace grounds. Here you can get a better
idea about the palace's layout. The treasury was located along
the right side and the Harem is that big complex you see in the
upper left. You purchase a separate ticket to get a guided tour
of the Sultan's Harem |
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The Harem
The word "Harem" basically refers to the private quarters
of the Sultan. That is, other members of the court were not allowed
in this area. As we entered the harem, we saw a room where
these models were set up to dipict what the eunichs looked like
and what they would typically wear. As you can see, the eunichs
were catrated African slaves. To the right, you see the entrance
hall. |
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The harem was a huge place! Toward the end of our tour, we
went out into the courtyard of the favorites (left). From here
you can see many landmarks, including the Galata Tower (right).
This courtyard was used by the Sultan's favorite concubines.
There was a fairly strict hierachy amongst the Sultans women.
Where you lived in the harem as well as you access to certain
parts of the harem depended on your position in the hierarchy.
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We took the opportunity to take some pictures here. It was
a beautiful day! Cool, but sunny and not very humid.
As you can see, we dressed a bit more appropriately today
with jeans instead of shorts. That helped out a lot.
During the tour, we also got to see the Sultan's Hamam (Turkish
Bath) that was located inside the harem. It was a beautiful
marble-lined place with lots of gold and tiles everywhere... |
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...but as you can see, even the Sultan's toilet was pretty
standard for the day. As we exited the harem, I snapped this picture of Yener outside one of the many impressive buildings. Notice the different types of columns used on the building. |
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Yener told me about the packs of cats that roam the Turkish cities. Until now, I hadn't seen any cats around. One of the cats we saw on the palace grounds came up to say hello to Yener and then went to join the rest of the group over in a nearby parking lot. |
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Lunch
Famished after our morning tours, we started looking for a non-touristy place to eat. We found this neat little restaurant that was in an alley and housed in a three story house. Since it was a nice day, we decided to eat outside. Our waitress was kind enough to take a picture of us once our food arrived.
The restaurant's bathroom was on the top floor and you had to walk up a narrow spiral staircase to get to it! Quite the adventure! (It was a very clean modern bathroom...not like what you see in the hamam.) |
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Left: Yener's lunch of excellent beef kebobs with vegetables, baked potato, and rice.
Right: My lunch. This is called Guvech (English version of the spelling). Basically, it's a thick stew of meat (lamb, if memory serves), vegetables (peppers, onions, eggplant, tomatoes), served in a thick tomato sauce. The dish is served in a hot ceramic bowl, so it was bubbling wildly when it got to me. It was excellent! |
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| Refueled by an excellent lunch (complete with beer), we started out again toward the entrance to the Hagia Sophia. I could see some crowds forming already, so we both picked up the pace a bit. This building is over 1000 years old! I was looking forward to seeing the inside. |
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Hagia Sophia
This building was a Christian church at one point in its history before being converted into a mosque. Now, it's being held up by scaffolding while it is being restored. Most of the building was still accessible to us, though and we wasted no time getting our tickets (again, 10 YTL/person) and headed inside.
First impression: This place is HUGE! The sheer scale of the hallways is impressive. The picture to the right is of me in one of the hallways that bordered the main floor area of the building. |
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Left: This is a shot of the inside of the Hagia Sophia. The
interior was HUGE. There was a second floor available to explore,
so we headed up.
Right: This is the tunnel-like ramp that you use to get to
the second level. No stairs. It was a little spooky, actually. |
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The second floor was beautifully decorated and the architecture
was impressive. In one part of the building, you can see the
effect that years of age and several earthquakes have had on
the building. Yener's doing his best to hold things together.
In the center of the building, there was scaffolding set up
to help support the dome and allow restorations to be performed.
I hope that this building survives for many more years as it's
a wonderful site to see!
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We finished our tour of the Hagia Sophia, peering
over the ledge at the people on the ground floor. The chandeliers
you see behind me in the picture to the left still held oil-filled
lamps...although they weren't lit.
Once we were done, we figured we would head down to the sea
and take a ferry over to the Asia Minor side of Istanbul. |
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another attraction that was not on Yener's list. Upon further
investigation, it turned out to be a structure that had sunken
beneath the city and became partially flooded. Since it was so
bright and warm out, we figured that this would be a great way
to escape the sun for at least a little while. Yener got us two
tickets (10 YTL, again) and we headed down a flight of stairs. |
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Underground Cistern
The first thing you notice is the cool moisture. The atmosphere
was completely different than outside. It took a few mintues
for my eyes to adjust to the darkness before I realized what
I was seeing...the floor was partially flooded and there were
even fish there! |
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It was a bit eerie here; there was music playing in the
background that really set the mood perfectly. I really enjoyed
the break from the sun and loved walking over the flooded floor
on the walkways. The only problem was that the lighting made
it difficult to get decent pictures there.
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At one point, there was this column decorated by
tears. It was beautiful work and you can actually find that tear
pattern on other objects for sale in Istanbul (jewelry, tiles,
etc.).
Further on in the tour, there are to column bases that are
sculpted to be medusa's head. We took our time walking toward
them since we wanted to relax and cool off a bit while we were
underground.
It was at this point that I realized that water was dripping
into this place from above.Some places were worse than others
with respect to wetness. In some spots, it felt pretty steady.
I didn't really mind since it was so wonderfully cool.
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After reaching the back of the site, we found the two Medusa
heads. According to the sign at the entrance, nobody really knows
why they are placed here in this fashion. |
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On our way out, we found the source of the eerie
music that was echoing through the place. There was a group of
musicians performing on a small stage by a cafe that was build
as part of the site.
Once we left, we continued down to the sea side to find a
ferry to the Asia Minor side of Istanbul. |
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Uskudar trip
We purchased tickets and waited inside the station. The place
where we were headed is called Uskudar. After a short wait, the
boat arrived and we were on our way. It was a pretty uneventful
trip across the bosphorus. |
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So here we are in Uskudar, looking back at the European side
of Istanbul. It didn't really look all that different from other
parts of the city. Yener and I both made some phone calls to
family and friends from this point. |
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| After all the walking and such, it was time for
a snack by the sea. Yener ordered us two toasts (basically, grilled
cheese with meat that would remind most Americans of pepperoni)
along with a lemonade for me and an aryan for Yener. The entire
meal here was about 3 bucks or something like that. We sat on
a bench and enjoyed our snack while watching the street life.
It was a nice place to rest. |
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Galata Tower
This tower can be seen from all over Istanbul. It's a pretty
significant landmark. We purchased tickets so we could get
all the way up to the top to take pictures and see the city.
In the tower, there is also a disco and a restaurant. It was
fun!
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| A pretty spectacular view, huh? You can see a lot
of the places we visited/walked around from that elevation. About
this time, we decided to go to the "main drag" area of the city
to get some food for dinner. Since we ate a bit as snacks thoughout
the day, Yener suggested that our dinner be a selection of desserts.
I was not about to argue! |
Cake Dinner
So here we are at this place called Ozut. This is a cafe/restaurant
that specializes in AMAZING cakes, puddings, and other Turkish
sweets as well as coffee, tea, and juices. It was very nice.
We sat on the second floor and stunned our waiter by order
four different cakes with tea for me and cherry juice for Yener.
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| This cake was a light and sweet chocolate cake with candied
chestnuts and chocolate shavings. |
This cake had a chocolate cookie crumb crust and layers
of flavorful cream with a strawberry jam. This was our favorite. |
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| This cake also had a chocolate cookie crumb crust with
a layer of chocolate-flavored custard on the bottom followed
by a carmel-flavored custard and then glazed with something
wonderful and chopped nuts. This was our second favorite. |
This cake was similar to the first one, but had pistachio
paste used as a layer. This was a bit heavier that the other
cakes, but very good. This was our third favorite. |
ALL of these cakes are worth having again! When I make it
back to Istanbul again, I know just where to go for my desserts.
We waddled/walked our way to the end of the street where we
picked up the city bus that took us back to our hotel. We were
both exhausted. Given how much you had to read on this page,
I bet you are too!! (I mercifully cut out a lot of pictures
to try and prevent boredom. If you want to see the others,
just let me know.
I can add more to this page if people are really interested.)
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