Parthemores in Poland

For our latest trip, we busted out of our Central European comfort zone and headed down to Istanbul for a long weekend. 

Fellow Olmsteders Mike and Nichole were gracious enough to let us crash at their place.  Thanks to their extensive library of guidebooks and helpful tips for public transportation, we managed to pack in a lot of sightseeing into three short days.  Here is the whirlwind tour:

Our first stop was one of the most famous buildings in Istanbul, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque.

It isn’t blue on the outside, but the name comes from the intricate tiles decorating the inside.

Hanging from the ceiling were impressively large chandeliers, that weren’t much higher than head height.

There was so much to look at and it was kind of overwhelming.

Nearby is the Hagia Sophia, which held the record for largest cathedral for a measly 1000 years.  Think about that for a second. 

It is hard to fully grasp the idea that this building is almost 1500 years old.  It was first built as a cathedral, then after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, it was converted to a mosque.  The secular government of Turkey has since started restoring some of the original Christian elements and it is now a museum.  Simply amazing.

Our trusty digital camera has lots of settings.  However, we definitely could have used a “huge, dimly lit building, where the flash isn’t going to do you any good and probably isn’t allowed anyway” setting. 

Large portions of the interior are under restoration.  In one section, historians have stripped off the paint to reveal Byzantine-era mosaics. 

Farther down the road, overlooking the water was the Topkapi Palace.  It is a collection of several different buildings that made up the palace complex, and now hold exhibits from the National Museum.

Both the interiors and exteriors are equally impressive. 

One of the coolest displays was definitely the Treasury, where all the items were:

1. Gold
2. Excessively jewel-encrusted
3. Surrounded by hundreds of screaming Turkish schoolchildren

I think it might have been Field Trip Day at Topkapi Palace. 

We also forayed into the insanity of the Grand Bazaar.  The guidebook summed it up best with the phrase, “nothing can prepare you for the Grand Bazaar.”  Very true.  The whole thing is a giant rat maze, which is made narrower by the vast amount of goods bursting out of the different stalls.  Souvenirs, jewelry, rugs, water pipes, jeans, leather goods, and pottery are all prominently displayed and competing for your attention.  Add into this the pushy salesman and their catcalls and you start to feel like the walls are closing in.

We have discovered that speaking Polish to each other in these situations proves useful.  We can still communicate with each other, while ignoring all the English that everyone is yelling to the passersby.  This almost backfired when we found one guy selling perfume on the street who spoke a few words of Polish and proceeded to hound us for two blocks while (correctly) throwing out lower and lower numbers.  Props to that guy.

The Spice Market was a similar experience, but since many of the customers are locals, there was more yelling in Turkish.  We picked up some apple tea, meat spice, and some Turkish Delight, which was delicious!

Despite all the madness of these places, we did find some peaceful spots in this crazy city.  In particular, the Roman cistern, a subterranean water collection facility, proved calm, cool, and interesting.  Spanning several acres, the Romans collected and stored drinking water in a huge underground room supported by hundreds of columns.  The columns were all “repurposed” from other areas, hence there is a mishmash of designs. 

We spent an afternoon on a boat tour of the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus.  Walking around downtown, it is hard to conceptualize just how big the city is.  A four-hour boat ride that spans two continents, while remaining in city limits, helps illustrate that Istanbul is ginormous.  We highly recommend taking a boat tour.  This was a great way to see a lot of basic sites and get a good feel for the city. 

There are a few things that you see everywhere in Istanbul:

1.  Tulips.  Despite Holland’s claim to the contrary, tulips are originally from Turkey.  Fortunately, they were still in bloom during our visit. 

2.  Fisherman.  Every public place with water access will be packed with people fishing.  This includes freeway overpasses.

3.  Turkish Flags.  We thought Poles liked flying flags.  Poland’s got nothing on Turkey.  We passed one apartment building where one resident had completely covered his downstairs neighbor’s window with a flag.  Only one flag in this photo, but you can tell that it is huge.

4.  Stray dogs that you would want to pet.  We saw countless stray dogs, most of whom appeared to be well fed and well taken care of. 

5.  Kebab stands.  Just like Poland.

So that wraps up our Istanbul trip, and only a month or so late.  Thanks again to Mike and Nichole for an awesome trip!