Thursday August 9, 2012
Istanbul was a place neither one of us had ever anticipated visiting prior to booking the cruise, but we were both excited to see the city that spanned two continents. Waking up to the city skyline, Gothic churches marked by the cross became golden domed mollusks and the writing on the buildings surrounding us was an unfamiliar alphabet. Looking out to sea, deep blue waters of the Med transformed into a pungent green cesspool as we sat at port in the Sea of Marmara. Although we knew little about modern day Istanbul, we both had a deep respect for the city and it's history; beginning with it’s start as the capitol of the Byzantine Empire, then being conquered and becoming Constantinople, and again when the city became an important part of the Ottoman Empire - we couldn't wait to hop off the ship and begin to explore.
As usual our day began with finding a bank, a good map and our points of interest. A few hundred yards from the port was a BNL, where we withdrew our first Turkish Lyra, another new currency to experience - and this time the exchange rate favored our dollar! As we finished our withdrawal a man approached us offering up discount tickets for a Ho-Ho (hop-on, hop-off) bus with guidance in eight languages that took us on a two hour journey to all of the major points of interest in the city, as well as crossing the bridge into Asia. We were so excited we couldn't resist his offer, so with maps in hand, and our newfound confidence we boarded the bus and headed into the city. At our first hop-off point we debussed and headed straight to a café, nestled across a courtyard from the Hagia Sophia, to enjoy some authentic Turkish coffee.
Standing in the heart of Istanbul we were in awe of the different look and feel of this particular Mediterranean city. Megan also made it a priority to finish the remainder of her souvenir shopping here, so off we went to the famous Grand Bazaar. As we walked along the streets we browsed through the assortments of beautiful rugs and jewelry. A symbol we repeatedly saw was the evil eye, a dark piece of glass with a white eyeball that had a light blue iris and dark black pupil. It is believed by many cultures that the charm is able to cause injury or bad luck for anyone it is directed at. The Eye was widely available in the Bazaar, as well as intricate lamps, camel bone jewelry boxes, hookah pipes, and handcrafted knives. Once inside we shopped for our friends and family, Megan insisted on bartering with the shopkeepers that seemed irritated with her persistence, and even joked to Kyle that he shouldn’t let a woman do the talking. We learned earlier in the day that 99% of Turkey is Muslim, and they still uphold traditions of a male dominated society. After our shopping spree, we sat down to enjoy some traditional baklava and handmade lemonade at a little café inside the Bazaar.
Taking our time to get back to the main square for the Ho-Ho point we lingered through the streets of the high fashion area, stopping for gyros and sodas. A little after noon loud music played through speakers scattered all around the city - prayer hour, something neither of us had ever witnessed. Many of the shops began to close down and the crowds of people slowly dispersed. Making our way into the main part of town we stopped to admire the Hippodrome and a few more artisan shops.
It was nearly 2:45 when we made it back to the Ho-Ho point, we hopped on one of the tour busses and waited for it to depart - we were so excited to see the parts of the city not attainable by foot, and for the first time make it to Asia! As we sat on the hot bus looking at the Blue Mosque the attendant handed us headphones to plug into the guided system, she also informed us that the bus had free Internet. Overjoyed we pulled out the iPad and went to town. About forty-five minutes passed before we realized the bus hadn't moved. Puzzled, and realizing we only had two hours before we had to be at the port for the final boarding at 6PM we got nervous that we wouldn't be able to finish the rest of our tour. Megan got off the bus and asked the attendant when the tour would begin, she informed us not until 4PM! Wish they‘d disclosed that crucial bit of information to us before we sat on the hot bus wasting an hour…
Discouraged that we had wasted money, and wasted too much time browsing the Bazaar and eating we took the next available bus back to the ship. Walking into the port we passed a line of hookah bars where shisha was being smoked out of fruit! We decided that the next day in Izmir, because we didn't have an agenda of places to see, we would smoke hookah and spend the day satisfying our Internet craving. Despite our setback with the bus, we both really enjoyed Istanbul and appreciated all the wonders it helped us discover. It was an unexpected surprise added to an all-star list of Mediterranean cities.
Above: Megan is holding the Ho-Ho map and a cup of water, given to her by the conductor of the bus, after she proceeded to argue with him about bus times and drop off points, demanding a refund, and nearly crying. She'd tell you that it was Istanbul$#!%
Xo, M&K
