Under the Walls of Topkapi: Final Day in Istanbul

Jun3

I spent my final day in Istanbul (yes, over ten days ago now – how time flies when you’re flying hither and yon!) trying to see the things I’d not yet had a chance to see, but definitely wanted to see before I headed back to the States. This included the Basilica Cisterns, the Grand Bazaar, and the Great Palace Mosaics, along with some quiet time to just enjoy a view of the Bosphorus and write postcards. (I’ve been sending a lot of postcards!)

First, the Basilica Cisterns. They are…incredible, would be the word for it. Or atmospheric. Apparently there was a scene filmed here for “From Russia with Love”, one of the Sean Connery James Bond films, when there was a higher water level. Higher water level, you ask? Well, the Cisterns used to contain some of the fresh water supply for the Byzantine city in Justinian’s time (6th century?). Late in the 20th century, the city removed much of the water and put in a walkway for tourists. They even have concerts down there, which must be a unique experience, though I can’t imagine the damp would be any good for the instruments. It really doesn’t take that long to go though the Cisterns: they take up maybe a full city block (which is pretty large if you think about how old they are, but doesn’t take too long to walk through). Your first impression is of a big, echoing cave filled with columns which are lit from below. You approach the railing to look at the water and see koi. Walking on the walkway, you proceed to some corners where there are fewer tourists. Water drips from the ceiling and you can easily imagine a scene from a suspense novel or spy movie taking place here. For me, it became a little eerie as I imagined what it would be like to be trapped here overnight. (I have an active imagination, what can I say?)

Anyway, you can judge for yourselves:

Entering the Basilica Cisterns

Crying Pillar, Cisterns

Cisterns

The Guardian of the Cisterns

The Second Medusa Guardian

Dark Corner of the Cisterns

I also screwed my courage to the sticking point and headed to the Grand Bazaar. (Think there are a lot of people at the entrance? Inside was even worse!)

Entrance to the Grand Bazaar

Now, let me be clear. I do enjoy shopping. However, I don’t enjoy large, jostling crowds with lots of picketpockets, and I certainly don’t enjoy the kind of salesmanship I’ve endured from carpet salesmen in Turkey. Leave me alone to do my shopping and I’ll be much more likely to make a purchase. So you can understand that I felt some hesitation in going to the Grand Bazaar. All of that said, I am definitely glad that I went. The sprawling building itself is pretty incredible, and when you step off into the side areas (hans) within it, you can ignore the modern soccer jerseys and imagine yourself back in the days of caravans and the Spice Road. It’s also pretty iconic.

Well, these two sights were the last ones that I felt I’d be upset if I missed, so I decided to have a leisurely afternoon and find the cafe under the walls of Topkapi with a great view of the Bosphorus that the Guesthouse owner had recommended. I entered the Gulhane park and walked to the far end, then took a turn to the right up a fairly steep hill to the outside of the Palace. There I found the cafe, as promised, and the lovely older English couple with whom I’d chatted over breakfast the past two days at the Guesthouse. They invited me to join them and we had a great chat over tea and a magnificent view of the Bosphorus. We decided to have dinner together that night, since it was my last night in Istanbul. When they went off to explore the city some more, I stayed and wrote postcards until my pen ran out of ink.

Without a pen to write with, I thought I should take a look at the Great Palace Mosaic Museum before I left. It’s a small museum, the only exhibit being this impressive huge mosaic (and pieces thereof) that they discovered behind/under the Blue Mosque. It’s Byzantine, from a bit before the Basilica Cisterns, and reminds me a lot of ancient Roman mosaics I’ve seen. Part depicts hunting scenes while the other end shows more activities of daily life.

Then it was back to pack, and then out for dinner at a lovely restaurant specializing in Ottoman cuisine. I had lamb – I almost always have lamb when it’s a choice, because I love it and very rarely make it at home. The British couple I was with had really taken me under their wing (I think I’m a year younger than their youngest daughter), and I had a very pleasant meal and walk with them. As the finishing touch to the evening, they showed me the “special tunnel exit” from the restaurant. It turns out that the block of buildings that the restaurant and our hotel are part of is built on the ruins of an old Byzantine palace. The restaurant had discovered the site when trying to expand the basement. (Apparently it featured on the History Channel’s Cities of the Underworld show on Istanbul.) We got to walk through dark rooms vaulted in a Romanesque style similar to what I had seen earlier in the Cisterns, emerging by another restaurant. Can you imagine digging out your cellar and discovering ruins over 1500 years old?!

You Can Go Back to Constantinople

May15

It was time to head back to Istanbul, where I have spent the past four days seeing sights at a somewhat more leisurely pace.

On Sunday I went to Dolmabahce Palace (built by sultans to show Europe that its sick man, the Ottoman Empire, was doing fine but in reality costing the empire more than it could afford). It’s a baroque, rather overdone building, with rooms that could be lovely if they had just stopped decorating several elements earlier! (Keep the gorgeous Baccarat crystal chandeliers, carpets, mirrors and upholstered chairs, but don’t add trompe l’oeil ceilings and walls on top of that! Shame on you, French decorator to the sultans! The Baroque period just called from two hundred years earlier and it wants its excess back!) There is, however, a fantastic view of the Bosphorus from the palace.

On Monday, many museums are closed, so I figured it was a perfect day to go on a Bosphorus cruise. I chose to go on the one run by the normal ferry service, as it’s much cheaper than the touristy ones (ok, yes this is also for tourists) and I had a pretty detailed guidebook that listed what I would see: old palaces, the European or Asian shore, jellyfish in the water at our lunch stop (of three hours), the Black Sea. I have to say I enjoyed the ride back more than the ride out to the mouth of the Black Sea, in large part because on the way out I was sitting next to a couple of grumpy tourists and on the way back I was chatting with a nice French couple. On the way back, I even saw a dolphin!

We set out in a drizzle:

Dolmabahce from the water:

Other sites (palaces, the famous suspension bridge, pylons bringing electricity from the Asian to European side):

Ukrainian cargo ship coming from the Black Sea:

Picturesque towns:

The Black Sea:

The castle I hiked up to before lunch as I tried to spend three hours in the little town at the mouth of the Black Sea (and views from there):

I chose a restaurant with a couple of Turkish women sitting in it thinking it was a safe bet, and ordered the local fried mussels and an eggplant mezze. When it came time to pay, I noticed that they added 4 lira as “tax”. I was powerless to protest what I knew was cheating, pure and simple (Turkey uses VAT and it should be included in the price), as I don’t speak Turkish and they had rounded up to a total bill of 20 lira – and all I had was a twenty lira bill. It’s the first time in three weeks in Turkey that this has happened to me and it made me furious. I wish I had their card so I could let everyone know where not to go. Oh well, at least it wasn’t a large sum of money, and I soon after got back on the ferry and started chatting with the nice French couple.

A few more pictures from the return trip:

On Tuesday I decided to go to Chora Church in the morning. This church has magnificent mosaics that are apparently often compared with Ravenna’s. Many guidebooks suggest taking a taxi, but simply taking the tram the very easy if you don’t mind learning the Turkish name for the museum and asking for directions for a few blocks. The tram goes by the old Byzantine city walls.

There was a great tile store across from the church, so I did a little shopping, dropped my bags off at the hotel, and went to the Taksim Square/Istiklal Street area to shop for a few more things to bring home with me. Heading home at the end of a full day, I took the Tunel funicular, apparently the second oldest subway (in Europe?The world? I’m not sure!).

PS Thanks to RLB for the blog title!

I Think I’m Finally (Almost) A Real Backpacker

May4

So after my six hour overnight bus trip to Canakkale (my base to visit Troy), I have checked off a couple of items that I had this far successfully avoided: using a squat toilet, and smelling like a backpacker. Let’s start where I left off: in my lovely Istanbul guesthouse, after a long day in the sun, about to take public transit to the Istanbul bus station.

It’s a bit of a walk between the tram stop and the metro line that goes to the otogar (bus station). I asked for directions a few times but made it just fine. I’m not a fan of going places I don’t know with my backpack after dark since I stick out like a sore thumb, but there were plenty of people around.

And oh yes, the toilet. Well, I had avoided them in both Japan and Korea, but they were the only option in Istanbul and beggars can’t be choosers. Honestly, it wasn’t a big deal at all. However, the fact that it’s this far into my trip is a pretty big achievement.

I was really early for my midnight bus. A bus pulled in around eleven, which seemed very early but I wasn’t going to quibble. The destination listed was Canakkale and it was in the spot listed on the ticket. It was only when a lady had a ticket for the same seat as I did that the conductor realized I was one bus too early! My bag was already loaded, so he took me to the ticket counter and helped me swap out my ticket to one on that bus. My new seat mate was an older lady who kept insisting I eat some of the crackers she had brought. Whenever I stopped munching for a few minutes, she would pay my hand and point at the packet, making a satisfied noise when I took some more.

I managed to doze on the trip, waking for a few minutes on the ferry crossing the Dardanelles (anticlimactic on a bus at 4am). What I had realized only after I changed my ticket was that my new arrival time would be before dawn, around 5 in the morning. Luckily, I was able to sit in the lobby of the Anzac hostel there until the tour office opened for my tour to Troy.

Last Day in Istanbul…for Awhile

May4

My kind host at the guesthouse (to which I had moved the day before) heard that I had nebulous plans for the day of finding a phrase book and guidebook and then playing it by ear. First he gave me some books from his book exchange even though I don’t have books to leave – I’m all set for Lonely Planet guidebooks now, which is a relief to my wallet! (English language books abroad are always so expensive – as long as “abroad” is not England or some such country, of course!) Then he suggested an itinerary for the day which consisted of the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent, the Egyptian (or Spice) Bazaar, and a not-so-touristy small mosque called Rustem Pasha Mosque known for its Iznik tiles (similar to those in the Blue Mosque). Huzzah for more tiles and fewer tourists! (Come to think of it, that should be a blog post title.) He even recommended a good cheap eatery, a relief after the prices in Sultanahmet.

I started by going into an English language bookstore on Divan Yolu (the heart of the tourist area) to pick up a phrase book. Everyone seems to speak English in touristy Istanbul, but I wasn’t sure this would be the case throughout the rest of the country, even though I’m going to pretty big tourist destinations. I felt a desperate lack of a phrase book in Russia and was not about to repeat the mistake. (As I write this almost a week later, I most regret not getting a dictionary as well – but really most people so far have spoken great or at least adequate English.)

I then wandered down towards the Spice Bazaar. I had a long day to kill as I had gotten my overnight bus tickets to Canakkale for a midnight bus. I enjoyed my brief walk-through, but stayed resolute: no shopping in Istanbul until my return, so I don’t have to carry this stuff everywhere. (I did leave a small bag at the hotel, but didn’t want it make it bigger…or blow my entire budget with a couple of weeks of travel left.)

I had a vague idea of where the mosque was so decided to go in the general direction. Getting a little lost lets you see beneath some of the layers of a city at times. I walked uphill towards the mosque through a street of toy shops; it seems that the areas around the bazaars are themed as if in continuation of the bazaar. Eventually I met up again with the flow of tourists and wended my way to the summit.

Of course it was a scorcher of a day, and I had arrived right around one of the prayer times, but I found a shady part of the courtyard and waited. The architecture is splendid, the interior much simpler than Hagia Sophia or the Blue Mosque.

Start of Divan Yolu: mile marker to cities in the Roman Empire:

Suleymaniye Mosque:

View of Tombstones:

Courtyard:

View of the Golden Horn (or Bosphorus – it’s easy to confuse them and the Sea of Marmara):

Roof view:

The mosque on leaving:

I decided to head downhill towards the University of Istanbul upon leaving the mosque. But first, ice cream! It was a perfect day for ice cream, like a summer day out of childhood with a strong sun, and it was definitely time to rehydrate, too. I stopped at a little store that had prices posted (easier to figure out what to pay since I haven’t learned much Turkish yet) and bought one of those wrapped vanilla and chocolate cones that remind me of my childhood family outings to French or Swiss parks. For some reason, the man behind the counter then gave me a second cone as a gift! I’ve not got the foggiest clue why, but this kind gesture made me smile (and gave me lunch).

Enjoying my ice cream, I passed by the large gates to the University and with sticky fingers entered the booksellers market. (All looking, no touching. I know better than to smear chocolate on a book.)

This route, while enjoyable and extra ice cream filled, brought me out of the way from where I wanted to go, so I more or less completed a circle to get to the next mosque. Boy was it worth it! A little away from the beaten track, it actually feels like a house of worship, and it has breathtaking tiles. (I know I keep using adjectives like breathtaking and gorgeous, but I think they are deserved at all these sites.)

I then headed back for a rest on the terrace of the guesthouse, before returning to the Spice Bazaar area for dinner at the decent self-service place that had been recommended. I finished dinner with some Turkish coffee. Tasty, but most of the grounds settled to the bottom despite my swirling. I’ll have to try again!

Heading back to the hotel with some time left to kill, I stopped back at the bookstore to buy Orhan Pamuk’s memoir about growing up in Istanbul. I headed over to the Hippodrome to read quietly for a bit. However, I ran into a big group of motorcycle cops doing exercises of some sort – maybe a graduating class? I watched them for a bit, read my book, then got ready for my night bus adventure.

In the Harem

May4

No, get your mind out of the gutter, it’s not like you’re imagining at all! (Although I was wondering how my number of site visitors would go up if I tagged this with the word harem!)

Sunday was all about Topkapi Palace:

It was the palace of the sultans (and yes, their wives,mothers, and other women lived in the harem) for 400 years, from the 15th to 19th centuries. As the needs of the sultan changed, a new and different part was added to the palace. This makes the palace enormous, and I spent over four hours there.

First comes the first courtyard:

And after that I have to admit that I can’t remember specifically where many of these photos came from (harem vs the other public areas). It really is just that big and a little overwhelming, but yet another beautiful and historic site. There is an amazing view of the Bosphorus and, at the innermost part of the palace, a tulip garden.

Can you tell how much I love the ceramics here?

And though I can’t show you pictures as photography was forbidden, I did go into the exhibits at the palace as well. These included a sacred artifacts exhibit (with a cast of Mohammed’s footprint and a staff purporting to be Moses’s), a room of various sultans’ gorgeous caftans, arms and armor that I think my archer friends would love to see (such lovely inlaid bows!), and rooms containing the treasury items like huge diamonds and gold thrones.

Exploring Istanbul

May3

After a delicious breakfast on the rooftop terrace of my hotel (spent gazing at the Blue Mosque, with Hagia Sophia and the Sea of Marmara behind me), my new Canadian friend from the previous night and I headed over to Hagia Sophia.

Now I must confess that I had spent the entire previous evening mixing up Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, as the Blue Mosque is so impressive! However, Hagia Sophia is also very impressive, especially as it’s so much older!

Hagia Sophia started its life as a church in the sixth century AD, and became a mosque 900 years later. Its dome was the biggest until the Renaissance Duomo of Florence. And it’s very impressive:

The interior (now a museum) is filled with a mix of decorations from the 6th century to much later when it became a mosque. Among them are some incredible mosaics, several in gold:

My plan for the afternoon was to go to the Blue Mosque, but as I arrived at Sultanahmet Square (between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque), I heard the call to prayer. I decided to sit on a bench in the square and wait, which was a great decision as it turned out. There are three mosques around the square, and I sat in a wall of sound as the three muezzin tried to outcompete each other. It was an incredible experience! I’m pretty sure at one point one of them turned up his loudspeaker.

Once prayers were over, I had a chance to enter the gorgeous Blue Mosque, so called because of the glorious tiles on the inside. I thought it lovely, but a pity that there were so many tourists (and yes I do recognize the irony there). Whenever I enter a house of worship, I try to find a quiet corner to meditate or pray, and it just didn’t seem possible there.

But do feel free to drool over the glorious tiles!

I had bought a three day museum pass so decided to get out of the sun by going to the Archeological Museum. One of the most spectacular items they have is the Alexander sarcophagus, which depicts, but did not enclose, Alexander the Great. The artistry is amazing and some traces of the paint still remain. They also have a chain that was used to close off the Bosphorus (picture at the bottom of the post).

As part of that museum complex, there is a little tile museum that is both a beautiful building and a lovely collection:

Below: some flowers in the way out of the museum

My busy day wasn’t over yet – I met up with my new Canadian friend and had dinner with her and her friends (who had arrived) across the Golden Horn near Taksim Square. We walked most of it, so I got to see Galata Bridge close to sunset.

Istanbul, Here I Come!

May2

This picture says it all, doesn’t it? Mystery, beauty, ancient civilizations…a meeting of Europe and Asia. (Continental crossings seem to be the theme of this trip.) Oh yes, and don’t forget the hordes of tourists. You may notice a lot of my pictures are angled up at the blue, blue sky. There’s a reason for this beyond aesthetics!

I flew Turkish Airlines from Berlin and was amazed to find that they serve real, even tasty, food. After my koftes and a decent Turkish red, I got to watch about half of The Hobbit (a slightly long choice of movie for a short flight, I know).

I had decided to splurge and go for a hotel-arranged pick-up at the airport, as I had heard that taxis in Istanbul can be a challenge. (I can definitely tell that I’ve been traveling for a while and am ready to take it easy.)

Now, I am trying to be very unstructured during my time in Turkey and not plan everything ahead. After planning for Russia, I didn’t have the time or energy to plan so far out. Unfortunately, this meant some frantic hotel searching in Riga to be able to get a centrally located, clean, relatively affordable hotel the first weekend in Istanbul. I ended up booking one night at the Terrace Guesthouse since it was recommended by Turkeytravelplanner.com and having them book me into a sister hotel two doors down for my first two nights.

So back to the airport transfer. I had to walk by that embarrassing long wall of people holding up placards twice and I still didn’t see my name. I moved to the side to figure out my next step when I was approached by someone who offered to call the hotel for me. I later found out he worked legitimately for the airport, but I didn’t know that at the time so I refused his offer and walked past that board one more time. At last! I found my name, and that same gentleman I had earlier brushed off (in all fairness, when someone approaches me with “didn’t I see you here an hour ago”, I feel they deserve a brush off) went to call my car. The driver dropped me at Terrace Guesthouse (easier than explaining the whole I’m staying two doors down thing to someone who didn’t speak much English), and I was made to feel right at home by the owner. We chatted for a bit and then he took my bag and walked me to the hotel I was staying at my first two nights.

Apparently this hotel switching is pretty common, as the woman in front of me checking in struck up a conversation about it. Apparently she needed to book an extra night because her travel companion had hit travel delays. Their bad luck was my good luck though – since she was solo, we decided to hang out and walk around Istanbul for a bit.

We had fun, trying to get to Galata Bridge but going left instead of right down Divan Yolu. But losing oneself is a great way to explore a city.

Above: Me in front of the Blue Mosque

Below: A pretty mosque on Divan Yolu

Blue Mosque illuni

trails untrod

Satisfying wanderlust one day at a time

Tag Archives: Istanbul

Under the Walls of Topkapi: Final Day in Istanbul

You Can Go Back to Constantinople

I Think I’m Finally (Almost) A Real Backpacker

Last Day in Istanbul…for Awhile

In the Harem

Exploring Istanbul

Istanbul, Here I Come!