After a surprisingly good night’s sleep on the hardest yet still comfortable bed I’d ever slept on, we headed downstairs for breakfast – Turkish breakfast with olives, tomato, cucumber, bread, juice, tea and coffee but none really rivaled the spread G had put on for us or the Van breakfast we saw Mehmet enjoying while we were waiting to look at his carpets. After breakfast we gathered in the hotel foyer for our walking tour of Istanbul.
The first part of our walk was through the outdoor part of the Grand Bazaar. We wandered through the chaotic market, with stallholders trying to get us to look at their collections of Turkish tea sets, cheap clothing made in China, and fake perfume. About half way along the street we stopped to look at a white-bearded Turkish man with what is best described as a contraption strapped to his back. It was a metal container with a spout that came over his shoulder from which he poured tasty and very refreshing homemade lemonade.
From the Bazaar, we weaved our way past Istanbul University to the Sileymaniye mosque. It was the first functioning mosque I had ever been in so I was quite conscious of being reverent. When packing I had carefully considered the need to cover up in Mosques, packing a beautiful tie-dyed silk wrap TC’s mum had made for me. Unfortunately, I hadn’t really considered where our walking tour would take us and it was left in the bottom of my bag in the hotel. No problem though – the mosque provided me with a scarf to wear (not nearly as pretty as the one I had) and I was wearing a skirt that covered my knees. The other thingyou have to do to enter a mosque is to remove your shoes. In Istanbul, they also give you a plastic bag so you can carry your shoes when you are in the mosque (and not risk them getting lost). While muslims going to pray perform ablutions, this is not required (or really appropriate if you are visiting the mosque to see the building. The mosque was designed by renowned Ottoman urban planner and architect Mimar Sinan at the request of Sultan Suleyman. One of the largest mosques in Istanbul, it was beautiful inside, and because it was much younger than the Aya Sofya and in continual use, the mosaics and frescos are in excellent condition.
From there we wandered through the labyrinth of streets, past the entrance to the spice bazaar and through the park between the Ayasofya and Sultahahmet mosque. The world over, there are festivals highlighting localk culture and food – in Istanbul’s case, it was my fave Turkish foaod so far – the Simit Festival. And what do you find at a simit festival – well entertainment, simit sellers and a huge glass container full of simit, inviting people to guess how many there were.
Just outside the complex for the Sultanahmet mosque, There are a couple of columns, believed to have been brought to Istanbul in Egyptian times. It was then when the age and tumultuous history of Turkey became real to me – there’s Attaturk, disputes with modern Greece, a muslim history, a Christian history, the Ottoman empire, the Romans and also the Egyptians. It also highlighted why ruins sometimes go undiscovered for years. The bottom of the columns, which were once above the ground were now several meters below the ground line, presumably due to the movement of dust, the shifting sands of time I guess. Entering the other mosque, the concern had been more about my head being covered. This time the attendants thought nothing of me entering without a head scarf but wrapped a scarf around my legs to cover my below-the-knee skirt. It seemed very strange.
Once again, the queuing was worth it. The mosaics were spectacular, and again as this was a functioning mosque, they were well preserved. There is no limit to the time you can spend inside but the mosque management have it all worked out – you walk around the courtyard which would have once been a school, go in one side and then out the other into the park with paths to Topkapi Palace and the Ayasofya.
The first thing to say about Topkapi Palace is that it’s big. And spectacular. When you meander through the outer gardens and then through the gates you expect to be inside the palace . In fact the palace itself consists of a multitude of buildings with rolling lawns and formasl gardens everywhere. You can really imagine the ladies of the court (or the Ottoman version of a court) strolling through the grounds, reading and being ladies of leisure. There were rooms for everything – including a superbly decorated circumcision room and the opulence was overwhelming. The collections of jewels, replete with gold and jewel encrusted thrones were overwhelming. While I understand the need to preserve historical artefacts such as these, it is difficult to look at the poverty that is so glaringly obvious throughout Turkey. It’s one of the things that sets Australia apart from the rest of the world, at least the European world – our ancient history, that of australia’s indigenous population is one of a nomadic people, rich in cultural tradition rather than opulent artefacts. The buildings themselves were also magnificent, beautifully decorated with mosaics and hand painted ceramic tiles. We wandered around aimless looking for the harem rooms which everyone had told us were a must see in the Palace, it sounds implausible but the grounds are just so spread out and there are so many buildings, without a map, it’s almost impossible to find particular rooms. Eventually we were tipped off by the queues and ticket booths . The harem rooms, which you have to pay extra to visit, are well worth it. The frescos on the ceiling are absolutely glorious and the detail on the perfectly preserved tiles is exquisite. In fact from a purely decorative point of view, they are my highlight of Istanbul so far. One of the most curious things for me were the rooms where the selected member of the harem would wait for their master. While we can now look on the idea of the harem as degredation of women, it was clear that in Ottoman times, this was an opportunity for women to live in comparative luxury and be educated. When the alternative was poverty and slavery, without independent rights or education, it’s no surprise that being part of a harem was a prized existence.
Our next stop was a gothic paradise – the Basillica Cistern was only discovered this century benrath the streets of Istanbul. The Cistern is a water collection covern but as it was constructed in Roman times so it has a lot of columns. Of course most above ground monuments have the space for gift shops and cafes and the like. The entrancxe to the basilica cistern is from a non descript building on the edge of Sultanahmet square that looks like it could’ve been a public toilet block. When you walk downstairs, there are a series of stands across the front of the cistern selling souvenirs and snack, not really what you’d expect to find inside something that’s essentially a water reservoir. A wooden walkway has been built above the waterline so you can walk around the cistern and look at the fish that call the place home. There’s also two columns at the back that feature inverted heads of the medusa which were one of my highlights of Istanbul (predictably).
Conscious that our time in Istanbul was a bit limited, we were keen to see as much as possible so we decided to go across the river to the modern shopping precinct and walk back across the Galatta Bridge. There are lots of other sides in Istanbul. The Bosphorous divides the east (Asian) side and the western (European) side but Istanbul is split into many islands and peninsulas. The Galata Bridge crosses one of these inlets on the European side. Conveniently the tram from Sultanahmet Square runs down the hill, across the bridge to Beyoglu (the Golden Horn). We caught the tram and then after some confusion on our part we found the fernicular railway to Taksim Square at the top of the hill. A tip- the fernicular Railway is underground which mean you need to go into what looks like a non signposted sunway entrance.
After that it’s a quick trip up the hill and you are in Taksim square where there is – you guessed it – another statue of Attaturk. Istikal Caddesi, the main shopping street starts here so we wandered down, drinking in the sights, and sounds of modern Istanbul. Istikel Caddesi is more of a long and winding mall that a street – like the kind you find in the middle of most Australian cities. Although wandering down a winding paved road seems much more interesting that the flat street malls common at home.
Quite soon we realised that it was quite late in the day and we hadn’t eaten lunch. We found the closest place which was kind of a fast food restaurant Turkish style. They sold kebap rolls and tosts. I had been looking forward to having Avayalik Yoast and decided, once I saw it on the menu that I had to have it. Avayalik Toast is my kind of toast. Grilled cheese with bits of stuff which included a couple of meats, pickles, potatoes, tomato sauce, mayonnaise and two types of cheese. It was awesome TC, who avoiuds pickles like they will bring forth the devil’s wrath, chose a more conservative kebab option.
Suitably refueled and revitalized TC, Christina and I headed off down Iskiter Caddesi marveling at all the shops along the way. As we headed further down the hill, the shops became funkier . Eventually we stumbled on what can only be described as musicians row, aside for the music stores and craft stores, there were scores of musical instrument stores with all manner of eastern instruments, most notably a huge range of sitars. Further down thehill we found the Galatta Tower. We decided not to walk up the tower – there was a bit of a queue and while I’m sure the view was wonderful, we were a bit tired and had a couple more things to do before we met our tour group to catch the overnight train back to Ankara. We wandered further down so we could walk across the galatta bridge. In fact we almost cossed beneath the Bridge as there is an an arcade beneath the bridge where you can cross to the other side. The galatta Bridge arcade was also where I had my first encounter with Istanbul’s public toilets. Initially I ventured into a a traditional squat toilet. They are really just a hole in the ground with non slide panels for your feet on either side. They also have a bucket of water and ladle for washing. Pretty much all public toilets in the west also include at least one European style toilet. Although these smell just as much as the squat toilets due to the bin rather than bowl approach to toilet paper disposal.
While the Galatta Bridgee is a famour Istanbul monumentits not that exciting to walk over. Essentially it’s a bridge across ariver where lots of people come to fish. Something you fing on pretty much any Australian jetty or bridge over a major waterway. bNot really the Sydney Harbbouir Bridge or anything – although I am sure history buffs will be aware of some great significance I am missing.
Once over the bridge, we wandered back up the hill to Sultanahmet so TC and Christina could look in some camera stores. When we got to the top we cam across what to us we would describe as a pharmacy, except it had everything a pharmacy would stock apart from the medicine dispensary. The medicine dispensaries are just that –places to get medicine – granted pretty much anything you want- but only medicine. The shop at the top of Sultanahmet square, however, had perfume, makeup and my holy grail – tampons. It transpires that as long as you’re looking in tourist areas, this essential item is available in Turkey. Yay!
Still maintaining a sesame pretzel diet but feeling much better, I was extremely happy to get on the road. We were heading to the docking point for our overnight boat ride. And on the way we were going to stop somewhere just for me. Santa Claus town. Otherwise known as Demre. The town, thought to be the birthplace of St Nicholas, is home to Byzantine church honoring the chriskindle saint. The church has been excavated and while the frescos are not the best ones in Turkey, the church is worth a visit, even just to see the swathes of Russian tourists. Man are they pushy. This heavily made up young girl, gesticulating wildly and pretty much yelling at her boyfriend in Russian shoved me out of the way so she could have her photo taken where I was standing.
