We seemed to do a lot of traveling in the rain. We got into
Istanbul in a thunderstorm. The metro area is so large that we got into the city limits of
Istanbul about 2 hours before arriving at the bus station.
Again, we had recommendations from several people on where
to stay, so we were set. Plus in lieu of the draught of tourists, it certainly wouldn't
have been a problem.
We checked out the Topkapi Palace on our first full day. It
was immense and the grounds reminded us of a college campus. The palace was the residence
of the sultans for almost three centuries, and most widely-known because of its Harem
(innocuously- enough, this term actually means "private apartments"). The
sultans could have four wives according to Islamic law, and as many concubines as they
could support--up to 300 was the highest recorded. And the inhabitants of the harem seemed
to live a relatively nice life; Eunuchs guarded the doors and waited on the women inside.
The Harem was really just a small village inside the castle grounds and included
apartments, private chambers, Turkish baths, courtyards, libraries, and
"entertainment rooms."
The Treasury was the other highlight of the palace, it
included a huge number of jeweled swords, an 86-carat diamond, daggers, a gold throne, and
many other elaborate and priceless stuff. Another building had shadow puppets entitled
"kukla". There also was a room dedicated to some of the sultans clothes from
pre-Ottoman times to late 19th century. We liked the gold-trimmed silk pajamas the best.
We walked to Istanbul's famous Covered Bazaar that contained
about 4000 shops, the oldest part had been around since the 14th century. It was a little
like a combinaton between a medina and a mall. It had been designed so Silk Road travelers
could still shop despite adverse weather condtions. It had lotsa stuff: oils, food,
clothes, leather, antiques, jewelry, and tacky souveneirs. The Egyptian (spice)
Markets were wild with the bright-colored powders and baskets of dried fruits and nuts.
We wandered around on the streets outside of the Bazaar and
found a bootleg DVD of the new Star Wars Phantom Menace--a mere week-and-a-half after it
was released in the States. We were duly impressed, and snatched it up for $6 (Dave had
been whining that he wouldn't be able to see it until we hit Sydney in the spring). Our
hostel played movies every day at 4:00 and we were able to persuade them to show this one.
They hadn't heard of it, but readily complied. We weren't expecting a high-quality
experience, and didn't get one. The sound was terrible, actors were randomly cut off, and
there were many shadows of people getting up and leaving the theater at the bottom of the
screen. But now we've seen it.
And, we can't forget the mosques! Aya Sofya and the Blue
Mosque (Sultanahmet) were a five minute walk from our hostel. There was a park area
between the two where you could sit and gaze at both. This was especially interesting at
call-to-prayer times when it would somtimes sound as if they were duelling for attention.
We were slightly underwhelmed at the Blue Mosque. First of all, it wasn't really blue.
Second of all, the inner sanctum seemed puny compared to the Aya Sofya's grand open space
and the spectacular one in Konya. But we were probably just mosqued-out.
The Aya Sofya (named for holy wisdom) is the mosque that
originally was a church (from 548 until 1453) and then instead of being torn down, it was
converted to a mosque. The way it was converted was a bit odd. We had seen the opposite of
this in Cordoba, Spain, and it worked quite well. Here they opted to stick big glitzy gold
medallions on the four corners of the sanctuary instead. Of course, if you can get past
that it is a beautiful place. The dome was an unequalled architectural feat when it was
constructed and there is still an immense sense of openness inside compared to most other
churches or mosques. It was amazing to think it had been around 1500 years, and
fortunately the mosaics were covered up and not destroyed.
On our last day in Turkey we took a boat trip up the
Bosphorus River, the waterway that links the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea. We got
off the ferry at the last stop and climbed up the hill to a rather old and dilapidated
castle. It had been used as a military lookout once upon a time, and we still had to walk
past an armed soldier to get in. But now the castle was decayed and crumbly, yet was on a
hill so it offered great views of Istanbul to the south and the Black Sea to the north.
It seemed an appropriate point to say goodbye to Turkey (for
now...) and prepare to head back to the Continent.
