Istanbul, Turkey

On Friday morning we went to Istanbul, Turkey. The plane ride was 4 hours long plus there was an hour time change. Everything went smoothly. When we got off our plane we exchanged our Euros for Turkish Lira. About 2.3 or 2.4 Lira are equal to 1 Euro.  Then we got on the metro right outside the airport. We rode into the old city section of Istanbul. When we got off the train it was dark and over the loudspeakers we heard they were saying the Muslim evening prayer.

The city was really cool, and there were cats everywhere. In front of restaurants they had big couch like things and hookah pipes. They also had a lot of carpet shops. Turkey is known for being between two different continents, Europe and Asia. This mix of culture was everywhere you looked. After a little trouble we found our hostel. It was really nice; more like a hotel. We had one room for the four of us and we had our own bathroom. After we settled in we went to a restaurant.

The restaurant was located on top of a hotel. It was like we were in a small greenhouse. Because we were many stories high we had a really great view of Turkey and the Blue Mosque. I ordered an Ottoman dish. They cooked lamb, chicken, vegetables, and a red sauce inside a clay pot. They brought the dish over to you with it on fire, and then they broke open the clay pot and dished the food onto your plate. To end our meal we had Apple Tea. Apple tea is really good. It is served everywhere, and most store owners serve it to you for free.

The next morning we got up early and went to the Topkapi Palace. This palace was really cool because it is where the Sultans lived for over 400 years. There they also had ancient relics. We were able to see many of the weapons, jewelry, and porcelain that the Sultans had owned. The Palace was very large. It had a big courtyard, countless rooms, and even a little area with a big pool of water. When we were done exploring here we headed to the Blue Mosque.

Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque was giant. I had never seen a real mosque before so this was a sight to see. When entering, we needed to use the tourist entrance. We had to take off our shoes before entering and if you had a scarf with you, you were supposed to wear it over your hair. The inside of the mosque is carpeted, and the lighting is low-hanging chandeliers. Men are able to go up near the altar to pray, while women have to pray in the back in an area that is fenced off by a wooden wall with holes in it.

Hagia Sophia

After this we crossed the street and went to the Hagia Sophia, which used to be a church and then was converted into a mosque. This depended on who currently controlled the city. In the end when the Ottomans conquered the city it became a mosque. Now it is a museum. It is older than the Blue Mosque. The best thing about the Hagia Sophia was the mosaics on the walls. They were made out of little gold tiles during the Byzantine reign. 

Grand Bazaar

After this we went to the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is the biggest and oldest covered market in the world. They had everything from scarves, to jewelry, to pottery. If you wanted to buy something you needed to haggle prices with the booth owner. Haggling was quite difficult; we were able to get the sellers to bring down their prices and we thought we got really good deals. I bought a tea set, apple tea, Turkish delight, and a scarf. After you buy something the store owner pins a little Turkish evil eye on you. It is supposed to keep bad spirits away but I think it might have been a way for the store owners to mark you as a tourist. 

Spices at the Spice Bazaar

Then we went to the Spice Bazaar. Here they had big bins of spices and fresh tea leaves. It was here that we found out that we were ripped off in the Grand Bazaar. They were selling the same kind of Apple Tea here for half the price we paid for ours. The lighter side of the situation is that in the end when we converted what we paid for our stuff from Lira to Euro or US dollars; we still got everything for pretty cheap. At the Spice Bazaar one of the girls was buying tea for her friend. I was waiting with her. The young guy selling the tea would take a big scoop full of each tea and have us smell it. They had pomegranate tea, apple tea, anti-aging tea, and one of my favorites was love tea because it was made out of a bunch of little flowers. The guy selling the stuff told me that he liked my eyes and that I looked like the Greek goddess Athena. Then he took one of the flowers out of the love tea and gave it to me. It was cute and funny at the same time.

For some reason Turkish people like my eyes. I was told my eyes were pretty by three guys during the day. But then again, I was also told by one guy that I was different/ something else, like that American TV show Dexter. HA! Everyone in Turkey spoke many different languages. They all knew English. The people we ran into liked to tell us where we looked like we were from. By one of the restaurant promoters I was told that I could pass off for a Spaniard but I looked more Italian. The restaurant promoter that we had dinner with was very adamant that I was from France. Then the last guy thought I looked Greek. I must’ve just stumped them because the girl in our group with German heritage was told she looked German every time.

We ended the night by visiting the Galata Tower. This tower is the oldest tower in the world. At first it was made out of wood in the year 528 and then in 1348 it was made out of its’ more stable rock structure. The tower was a little scary because you could walk around the edge. The only thing keeping you in was a little wall. The path to walk around the tower was the width of two people. This was scary because it was packed with people. But the cool part of the tower was that you could see all of Istanbul. Although we weren’t able to walk onto the Asia side of the city we could see it from the tower.

Early the next morning we listened to the Muslim morning prayer over the city’s loudspeakers and then got on a shuttle that our hostel had and went to the airport. This was an amazing trip but it went by too quickly. If I return to Turkey I would have liked to visit one of the famous bath houses and I would have also liked to take a boat down the Bosphorus River, and seen the Asian side. This trip really made me appreciate the Muslim culture and religion. It made me realize that even though we may have different beliefs, we are not so different from one another. I was also surprised by how nice everyone in Turkey was. I expected the city to be dangerous because we were a group of young, American girls; but it wasn’t scary at all.

Next weekend we do not have a trip planned but we are considering taking a bus or train to a city in northern Spain.