One In a Million

Well, actually, one in a twenty million. That is how many people live in Istanbul, and we saw someone that we knew.

We were sitting in the bus at the first stop, and chatting about our plans for the day, when a lady walking toward us said something in Bosnian to us. I didn't recognize her, but she even knew my name, and mom knows her well. She used to live in the same building, staircase next to ours, before the war. Her son was just couple of years younger than my brother. They were in Sarajevo during the war, and helped my mom when she was moving. She was visiting her husband who now works in Iraq, and on her way back to Sarajevo she stopped for one day in Istanbul. She was staying in the same hotel as we did, and was traveling back on the same flight as we. What are the chances! One in twenty million. :)

While mom was busy reacquainting with the old friend, I started talking with the man sitting next to me and his friend, who were from Iraq. One of them lived in Sydney for nine years, and I was showing him my Australian hat and aboriginal pin. The other one was moving through his fingers the Muslim prayer beads, and I asked them what, if anything, are they saying when doing that. They explained they may say different things, like say to God "you are the almighty", or thank Him, or ask for protection. The beads were in Turkish style with blue see through glass and an eye looking decoration. I asked if they knew what that symbol meant, and he said it's like an eye that is looking and guarding you. Then the former Australian man took that rosary from his friend, who didn't speak much English, and gave it to me. He thought his friend is not really praying it because he also drinks, which Muslims are not supposed to. I told him that's may be exactly why he needs it, at which we all laughed.

Our plan was to be in the bazaar 12-2, go over to the Asian side again and be on the beach 2.30-4, be back in the hotel by 5, leave for dinner at 6, so we can still pack our bags that evening as we were leaving in the morning. As often goes on a relaxing vacation with loose plans, we didn't make them. The bazaar, which has some 4000 shops, is a maze. All the little shops and stuff they sell outside look similar. We would find something and would want to come back, only to spend 10 more minutes walking in circles because we couldn't find our way back. I finally figured to start writing some sings down, so we can ask for direction back. We bought pretty much everything we wanted, all small things and souvenirs, and we bargained for all of them. They are usually simpatico toward Bosnia, so that helped to mentioned where we're from when negotiating the price. Some items we got for less than half price. Their usual selling phrase was, "It is $X, but just for You, it's $Y." - for everyone it's "just for you" :)

One hour behind our schedule already, we walked down the hill, through more of the street markets bustling with people, to spice bazaar again, to get natural salep. We realized that the one we bought the day before was an already prepared mix, and mom wanted the pure salep powder, which is better. (It's a type of creamy, milky, sweet yellow drink)

We could have spent another hour there, but we went onto the 20 min ferry boat over to Kadokuy again. The views from the boat of the old city were much better today, as there were virtually no clouds, and the air was really clear. We met couple of girls students on the boat, who told us at this time of day the trip to the beach town will take a bit longer because of the traffic. This time we knew which direction to go to once we got to the lend, and we quickly found a dolmush toward Djatebostan where I heard there are nice beaches on the Sea of Marmara.

People here are generally very nice, even if they can't understand all we are saying. As we were asking people for the dolmush we needed, they were all very ready to help us. Then one dolmush driver offered to take us some 200 m where the particular van we needed is. That place had some 50 vehicles and when we started looking for the right one, a girl that was in that first dolmush called us to follower her as she was going in the same direction. The van to Djatebostan only had 2 more seats left, and she offered them to us and she was going to wait for the next one. Isn't that just nice!

It took us about 30 min to get there, and then maybe 10 min walk down to the small public beach. It was close to 5 already. The beach was OK; they had showers, changing cabins, an ice cream street shop, and umbrellas and chairs for rent. There were only maybe 10 people on the beach. The water in front of the beach, however, was not clean. They had a little bouie divider in the water for swimming, and stop the little boats from parking there, but there was stuff floating in the water, some sea weed, little breadcrumbs-like particles, and some trash like a plastic bag and watermelon skins. We walked in only up to our knees, and then fearing some skin disease went straight to the shower. We had a really good ice cream there, and after about an hour, and also because the sun was really strong, we started heading back.

We asked for directions, two policemen and a couple standing next to them, and none of them knew English, except a 10 year old boy who was then translating some. Walking back toward where we were told, we found a great restaurant, in deep shade and very friendly waiters, and had a much needed Turkish coffee and water with ice! I think that was the first ice we saw while in Istanbul. :)

The van on the main street came just as we arrived there. The dolmush vans stop and go wherever you tell them. A lady inside changed seats, without us saying anything, just so mom and I could sit together. Again we had trouble figuring out how much it cost, as the driver didn't understand English. That same lady then translated to us the exact amount. These people are just nice.

In the split of a moment on the main pier we decided to change boats and take the one that would take us on the other side of Eminonu, across the canal. We asked around for directions toward Taksim, until a journalist who speaks English offered us to follow him. He helped us buy the ticked for fornicular. It's is a type of tram going up and down the hill underground pulled by cables, the oldest type of transportation in Istanbul. My leg was really hurting and I didn't want to have to walk to the hotel. It turned out this tram was only going to the lower side of Taksim hill, so we still had another 15-20 min of my slow limping to our hotel. More than 3 hours later than our schedule, we were in the room.

Our dinner plans included dinner in the sea-food restaurant on the water. An answer to an unspoken prayer came when we discovered a brochure in the lobby of a nice restaurant that offers a free shuttle service to the hotel guests. So, around 10.20 PM we were escorted to the restaurant under the bridge between Karakuy and Eminonu, an area full of restaurants. We had a great bass for dinner, by candle lights, local musicians, and water with awesome views of the old city. It was a great ending to our vacation.

Not to break the tradition, we got to the room just after midnight, and just then started packing. Our airport ride was at 10 am tomorrow morning.

A Day In Asia

Thursday we spent mostly on the Asian side of Istanbul. We took a subway and then a tram to Eminonu, just over the bridge in Sultanahmet. We then walked through the spice market, admired all the birds and parrots they sell there, and then bought some spices, saffron and salep. Then we walked down to the port and caught a ferry over to Kadikoy which lies on the Sea of Marmara. Our plan was to find another open market there, supposedly things are cheaper on the Asian side, have a coffee by the water, and maybe check out the beach.

We walked around for about 45 minutes, and tried to ask people for direction to bazaar. I am surprised how very few young people speak English. Many adults, I assume because they deal with tourists in their shops or restaurants, know more languages than young people. But still, it took us to find a tour guide and couple of ladies from the US who live here for the last 10 years, to figure out that this place doesn't have open air markets, just shops. So, we changed our loose plans and took dolmush, a mini van, toward Ushkudar and then another one toward Beylerbey.

It is just by the Bosphorus bridge, and there is a great 19th century palace there, but it is closed on Thursdays. We found a cute little restaurant just on the water, and had coffee there. The young men working there are still inexperienced waiters, and when I asked for some more sugar by pointing and the sugar cube on my mom's plate, he brought me one single sugar cube on another plate. We also ordered fried Horse Mackerels, and fed with fish heads some 5 stray cats, which there are many of in Istanbul. We had a really nice and long break there right on the water, next to one of the world's largest suspension bridge, the Bodjazichi Bridge, linking Europe and Asia.

It was already 5 PM when we continued on, thinking the boat docks are just around the corner. The few people we talked to, either didn't know any English, understood us just enough to tell us that Sultanahmet is in the opposite direction than we were walking (of course, we just wanted to catch a boat back), or kept telling us to keep walking because boat is further ahead. We realized that if people don't understand us in English to try to say the same words in Bosnian, and chances are they would understand some of it.

After an hour of walking, we were pretty tired and there was still no boat ramp. We actually couldn't even walk by the water, or even see the river for the most part, because there are huge mansions along the way, we 7 ft tall walls and solid metal gates. Finally, we found someone on a valley parking who told us there is a port just 500 m further, and they gave us a ride in what was the first air conditioned car we've been in here (it was out second car, but even the buses don't have AC's either) By the way, we stopped in few banks along the way while walking to cool down under the AC. At the port we find out that we can only take the small boat across Bosphorus and then would have to take a bus to Taksim, which would probably be an hour judging by our last night's experience on the road along the river. Otherwise, we'd have to catch a bus on that Asian side back to Ushkudar, the same distance we walked for an hour only took 15 min. The ferry took us back to Eminonu.

I was hoping we could catch the last half hour of the market on Kapali Charshi, so we walked up the hill from the ferry. But, we walked slow this time, and got there too late. We just went straight to the bus and to our hotel. Today's transportation: metro, tram, boat, dolmush, another dolmush, (an hour of walking), bus, boat, bus - total of 8.

Since we had some food during the day, unlike the previous two days, we wanted a simple and quick dinner. Plus, my left lower calf muscle was hurting since yesterday, and the unplanned walking today didn't help, so I was hoping to eat somewhere in Taksim. On our way we saw KFC and a pizza hut. We checked out few side streets off of the main pedestrian street, and after practically being stopped on the street to enter their restaurant, we set down at one open table outside, had Efes beer and doner, like Greek gyros. Again, we got to our room after midnight.

Topkapi Palace

The Topkapi Palace was on our schedule for the second day. We actually just made that schedule in the morning during the breakfast. We again didn't eat until 10 min before closing of the restaurant, because we just don't get enough sleep. We caught the noon bus again to Sultanahmet.








This time we used the main street to get to the Palace directly from the bus station. I was happy there was no line here either, because we were told that all of these buildings to visit have 1-2 hours wait in front. The ticket was again 20 lira, about $15, just like in Ayasofya. It is positioned on the hill between the Golden Horn and the Sea or Marmara. It is a maze of building that was the focal point of the Ottoman Empire between the 15th and the 19th centuries. Sultans and their court used to live there. A magnificent wooded gardens, again with wild parrots, fills the outer, or first court. In the second court, on the right, shaded by cypress and plane trees, stand the palace kitchens, which now serve as galleries exhibiting the imperial collections of crystal, silver and Chinese porcelain. To the left is the Hared, the secluded quarters of the wives, concubines and children of the sultan, which we didn't get to visit because it was an additional fee and we were already tires. Today the third court holds the Hall of Audience, the Library, and exhibition of imperial costumes worn by the sultans and their families, the famous jewels of the treasury, some of which were as large and a tennis balls, and a priceless collection of miniatures from medieval manuscripts. In the center of this innermost sanctuary, the Pavilion of the Holy Mantle enshrines the relics of the Prophet Mohamed brought to Istanbul when the Ottomans assumed the caliphate of Islam. After few hours of walking, we had coffee there on the terrace of the palace overlooking the Bosphorus.

We were pretty exhausted after this long walk, but we headed to the Grand Bazzar or Kapali Charshi. This labyrinth of streets and passages houses more than 4000 shops. They sell everything from gold and silver, hand crafted tea and coffee pots, to carpets, leather and oriental looking clothing, and touristy t-shirts, of course. This multitude of colors and people really wore us out after just 90 minutes, and we walked outside for some ice cream in the park. We had just enough energy left to go back in for the "aksham pazzar" where people usually have a chance to get good bargains because it's considered a bad luck to turn customers down at closing and opening store hours. All the walking and heat made us so tired that we didn't really have anything to eat the entire day, and even the dinner was going to be light. We were plann ing to go down for some sea food on the Bosphorus.

We took the bus just before 10 PM from the main Taxim square down to the water. It was supposed to be a 10 min ride. We met some people on the bus who were advising us not to get off at the first water station, because the restaurants there are more just for having a drink. So, we continued on and the bus got into some grid lock. Mom was sitting down and I was talking with these people so I haven't even noticed that we were driving for 45 minutes. The man was from Washington state and his wife from Iran. They lived in the Philipines for the last few years, waiting for her US visa. He also couldn't get visa for Iran, so they decided to come to Turkey and see her parents on vacation. They ended up getting and appartment and settling ın here a month ago, because they just can't go together to either of their countries. They were telling me of the things that are now happening in Iran, the real things, not what the media is broadcasting. Horrible things that this revolution is bringing. Her brother has been beaten up. The Ayatola is bringing in the troups from Venecuela, Palestine, Hamas to fight the people, because their local police cannot do it. Ayatola is in the hiding in an underground city, that regular people there do not know where it is. The guy was also in the marines in Iraq on two terms, so he was telling me stories from there. In turn, I was recalling some of my experiences of war in Sarajevo. Neadless to say, I didn't notice that we were moving so slow that we only passed one station in half an hour.

Mom was getting tired, and it was already almost 11 PM, so we decided to get off and walk. We were moving faster than the trafic. We quickly relized this was not a good idea to begin with, and mom wasn't hungry for dinner either. So, we just crossed the street and cought the bus back. We had dinner at a near by small restaurant, meat and cheese pita covered with jogurt and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice - just what the doctor ordered.

Sultanahmet

Our second day started with us sleeping in until 9AM. I really enjoyed it because I still can't fall asleep until after 2AM. We rushed to get breakfast before 10 when the restaurant closes, even before we had our morning coffee. There were many choices for breakfast, and it was filling. We had some cereal, fruits, salads, pastries, cheese, coffee and juice. Their lunch meat was questionable, so we passed on that. We decided on our plan for the day. We were going to go to the old town, Sultanahmet, have a Turkish coffee and then visit the Blue Mosque and Ayasofya.

We got the directions from the hotel lobby personnel. Since we are staying in the center, we are very close to the main bus and taxi station. I don't think I saw more taxi's even in the New York city. And they slow down next to you if you appear to them that you might need some transportation and honk or call you from the car. We walked around until our bus scheduled time (it runs every 30 min). It took us about 20 min to get to the other side of town to Sultanahmet.The bus was not crowded, but it got a bit hot, since it was already passed noon. Without our coffee, we were dragging our feet to find a nice place to sit down. From the main bus station in Sultanahmet, Beyazit, we walked some 300 m toward the area where we wanted to sight see. We wanted a nice coffee place with a view of the Marmara sea and a garden, so we walked until we found one. We went through some back streets that only have shoe and leather shops. There must have been 30 of them, and the entire street smelled like leather. This was not a touristy area, only locals were there, and I noticed that there were very few women on the street. It was a nice break, or start, to get some caffeine in.

From there, we were already on the main square where all the places to see were. We walked around the Hippodrome, the Stadium of ancient Byzantium where the chariot races used to be. Of the monuments from all corners of the empire which once decorated it, only three remain: the Obelisk of Theodosius from 390 AD, a bronze sculpture of three entwined serpents from Delphi from 4th c.AD, and the column of Constantine from 10th c.AD.

Then we visited the Blue Mosque, built between 1609-1616, and named that way because of the blue tiles used on the interior walls. They have a special entrance for all the tourists, so as to not disturb people who come there to pray five times a day. They handed us scarfs to cover our bare legs, and plastic bags to put the shoes in, which we had to take off. The tourists are separated from the praying folks just by a rail, so we still got to see all the areas. I don't remember when I was inside another mosque to compare, but this one was very large.

Outside of the mosque is a beautiful park with a large water fountain. On the other side is the Ayasofya. It was built as a church by Constantine the Great in (?) and reconstructed by Justinian in the 6th century. It was then converted into a mosque in 1453 with the arrival of the Ottoman empire. Most of the frescoes were plastered over at that time. In the late 1800s or early 1900s it was converted into a museum, and the restoration of the frescoes started. It is still in progress, and some of the images are still partially covered. We saw some pictures of pope JPII when he visited it in 1979, pope Benedict in 2006, and president Obama just couple of months ago. Its massive dome, 50 meters high and 32 meters wide, with four minarets, just like the Blue Mosque, still dominates the skyline of the old Istanbul. It was interesting to see some pictures that showed people gathered there for prayer; it looked like entire village was there.

By the time we were done touring, it was already around 5 PM, and we were a bit hungry. We found this beautiful park, with super high trees, and nice grass. To our surprise, there were some wild parrots there as well. Many locals were there, having a picnic with their families. I found that to be so nice, particularly since it was a weekday evening. We ate our two sandwiches there, and relaxed in the shades a bit. This break showed us that we were really tired, and we made our way back to the hotel, where we had coffee in our room. Mom then went for a swim at the pool on the roof, and I found this Internet cafe.

The hotel lobby people told us of a restaurant that opened just today around the corner, called Istanbul, so we went there for the opening night. The waiters were all so ready to help, every few minutes they were around us. They served us 'mezze' before we even ordered anything. They still don't license to sell alcohol, but after seeing our disappointment they brought two beer glasses later during the dinner, covered with napkins. We had nice lamb kabobs, with two types of salad. At the end they brought us complimentary rice pudding. We had so much fun there, and were really pampered. We left the restaurant after 11 PM.

We had to walk it off, so we again strolled down the packed main pedestrian street. We checked out a few side streets, and were surprised to find outside restaurants all next to each other and packed with people having dinner, mezze or just drink. The day activity here doesn't stop until well after midnight.