I have wanted to travel to Turkey, Istanbul in particular, for many years now. Luckily Mallory, one of my steadfast travel buddies, was eager to return to the city she fell head-over-heels for on a previous trip. So once classes were over and I had said my goodbyes to my family and the city of Gori, off we went on our next adventure.
In a nutshell we had a wonderful time walking aimlessly, drinking gallons of tea and letting all the men flirt with us. We decided at some point that it was entertaining for all involved to pretend to be from where ever the inquirer assumed we were from. Over the course of a week Mallory and I were British, Aussie, German, perhaps French, and Canadian. We were also sisters, lawyers and sculptors. It's nice to reinvent oneself every once in a while. I didn't feel too bad since most of the men were only flirting with us in order to sell us their "flying" carpets or other such collections. Excellent one liners from eager merchants include "Hello honey bunny!", "Do you want a flying carpet?", and "Want to play with me tonight?" Ok, maybe that last guy wasn't trying to sell us anything.
On the first night and following day we wandered around the city, hitting the major sights and enjoying the occasional calls to prayer. We accidentally wandered into the grand bazaar. Not quite prepared to haggle, we merely priced out the things we wanted to come back for. We finished the day by watching the sunset at the water's edge while eating cherries. I was chided for my poor pit spitting skills.
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| Waterfront |
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| Blue Mosque |
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| Aya Sofia |
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The next day we once again wandered around, drinking tea and stopping at interesting shops. We also went to the Basilica Cistern, which is an ancient water filtration system that lies under the city. It's so beautiful, it's hard to fathom that the Romans created it for a very practical purpose. Later that afternoon Mallory and I headed to our scheduled Turkish bath. We thought we knew what to expect, scrubbing and soaping followed by a massage. Actually, it turns out we didn't quite know what to expect. Yes, there was the scrubbing, soaping and massaging. But even though the brochure and postcards hinted at the use of swimsuits or at least the covering of the modest parts by a towel, this was not the case. We took a new step in our friendship that day. Nonetheless, I highly recommend the service, just remember to leave the swimsuit at home.
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Turkish Coffee, yum!
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| The Cistern |
We finished that day at a hookah bar that provided live music and a whirling dervish. We were able to meet up with a fellow teacher, Jessica, who had also made her way to Istanbul. Even though we had only been away from Georgia less than a week we were already nostalgic. We had fun telling Jessica's wide-eyed friend about our new Georgian traditions.
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| Whirling Dervish. I love how peaceful he looks. |
Next, we made a day trip out to the Princes Islands with the goal of reaching a beach. Since the island doesn't allow cars the only transportation options are horses or bikes. Mallory's second home is her parent's bike shop, so we negotiated a price with the bike guy. We only briefly considering how amused our favorite boys would be by the sight of us on a tandem. We chose our individual bikes and off she zoomed. I veered into a wall. A pencil skirt was not the best outfit for the day. After some very literal uphill battles I caught up and we searched for a beach. Following everyone dressed in beach attire and carrying towels was only somewhat useful, as they were going to a beach that cost 25 lira. Um, no way. We did some more loops and eventually I found a guy who looked like he might have an answer for us and asked if there were free beaches anywhere, he directed us to a 5 lira beach. Much better.
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| Princes Island |
It was truly an amazing sight to see. We settled on the rocks, as none of the men offered their lounge chairs. I ventured into the sea only to discover that rocky beaches are damn near impossible to navigate. I walked over the rocks with the grace of a baby giraffe, made it into the water and nearly toppled over on the mossy rocks. In the end we made it to the edge of the water and sat down, letting the waves come to us. After we had our share of sun, we returned the bikes, grabbed lunch, and made our way to the ferry.
That night we decided to hit the baked potato bar that we kept walking past. This was probably one of the most entertaining waiters we had in Istanbul. (The one who was horrified by Mallory ordering coffee before dinner, was a close second.) This guy was instantly fascinated by us, or at least decided we were the night's entertainment. We were handed a checklist for our potato toppings. There was a lot of pointing and gesturing and asking what was what. Suffice it to say, what was listed was not what was at the potato bar. And if your waiter is certain that a pepper is actually a pickle, just let it go. In the end, we ended up with half of our requested toppings and half of the other person's requested toppings. Didn't matter, it was delicious. The waiter fed me my potato. I am not sure why. After enjoying a second glass of tea with him and his boss, off we went into the night.
On our last day we met up with Mallory's friend who was en route to Tehran. We spent the morning walking around Taksim square/ street. After that we finally hit the grand bazaar. This was an exiting occasion, having saved up our shopping energy for this special afternoon. We already had decided what we wanted to buy and how much we wanted to pay. Overall we met our shopping goals - scarfs, jewelry, spices, clothing, etc. With all the evil eye products staring me down, I felt mildly like I was in a Turkish Tim Burton movie. No matter, I still bought plenty of evil eye paraphernalia. One merchant in particular said that we broke his heart when we haggled him down, but that may have been because Mallory shrewdly tried to trade in her ring for a new one. No dice, but it made everyone laugh.
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| Spice Bazaar |
This was our final night together in Istanbul. The next day Mallory was set to return to Tbilisi and I would board a night bus to Goreme. We decided to hop on the ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul for our last dinner. The timing was serendipitous as we made it to the boat right at sunset and drifted away as the call to prayer began.
Once in Asia we found we were starving and eventually found a place that had enough space to accommodate us. But uh oh, the menu was only in Turkish. We kindly explained to the waiter what we wanted, and discovered, we ordered way too much food. Way too much. Oh well, the Turkish Jake Gyllenhaal was sitting at the next table, so it was worth it.
After leaving the restaurant we somehow took a wrong turn and spent some time navigating in the dark. It turns out it is much harder to find water in the dark. We made it in time for the last boat. Unfortunately, it docked at a place pretty far from our hostel. After what seemed like a long boat ride and a longer walk through the darkened city, we finally made it to the hostel. The next day we made a quick trip inside the Blue Mosque, which was blissfully, mostly empty so early in the morning. Then we went our separate ways, saying "see you on the other side!"
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| Sunset in Istanbul |
Having a day to wander on my own before my night bus, I decided to go to the modern art museum that my friend Dana had recommended. This turned out to be an amazing experience. Many of the pieces were installations or videos, which provided an eerie mixture of sounds and echoes as you wander through the museum. I found myself returning to a few paintings and videos several times. It is a really well curated museum and it was a great way to see evolution of modern art in Turkey.
After a day of walking around in the heat, I boarded my bus, fell into intermittent sleep and woke up in Cappadocia. But what happened there is another story.
