After about 30 minutes of driving, a taxi dropped Sylvia, Kevin, and me off at Biz Cevahir Hotel in Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey. Biz Cevahir's electrical outlets didn't support my 110 volts, they hesitantly gave extra wash cloths, and they had central air which meant no individual control of the air in your room. What did that mean? We were hot at night when the hotel’s temperature stabilized to about 85 degrees. The call to prayer coming from the Blue Mosque was our wake up call. I’d give the hotel a score of 8.
Turkish man: Hello. Where are you from?
Tourist: USA.
Turkish man: Where in USA?
Tourist: (Provide state).
Turkish man: I have a carpet shop. Come see my carpet…
This was the usual banter every few steps we took in Istanbul. It was their attempt to draw you in. I tried being nice, but I learned not to answer. The constant questions and dialogue were relentless nevertheless.
The first night in Istanbul was a little shocking. While taking pictures of the beautiful Blue Mosque, a teenage boy of about 14 years of age came up and touched my head of hair a couple times. I turned around slowly and saw him grinning. My mouth dropped open, and I mumbled to my travel mates, Sylvia and Kevin, "He’s touching my hair." The teenage boy came back around to smoothe Sylvia’s hair and she leaned into his hand. We realized that we are an exotic rare breed in these parts.
The Blue Mosque (actual name is Sultan Ahmed Mosque) was built between 1609 and 1616 and bears the tomb of the founder. It has 20,000 blue, green, and white Iznik tiles and houses a Turkish bath, medical quarters, lodgings, hospice, madrasa, and more.
Morning seemed to come fast and we had decided to meet for our complimentary breakfast around 7:30ish. Biz Cevahir served white cheeses, salami, ham, olives, apricots, soupy scrambled eggs, croissants, Turkish coffee, tea, and more. We headed to Hagia Sophia Museum where we spied a long line. We must have had a sign on our heads that read: We Americans Will Pay a Premium for the Convenience of Being First in Line. Omar (pronounced Omare), a certified tour guide bought our tickets, so we could skip the long lines. He knew a lot about the palace, but I could have done without all the history. I just wanted to take pictures and that’s what I did. On the other hand, my travel mates clinged to Omar’s every word. The Hagia Sophia was built by the Byzantine Emperor in 537. The structure was used as a church for 916 years and a mosque for 481 years. In 1935, it was transformed into a museum. We also followed Omar to the Topkapi Palace and the Basilica Cistern. The Topkapi Palace holds a very huge diamond (86-Karats) called the Spoonmaker and other beloved treasures. Topkapi was built by Sultan Mehmet, the conqueror in 1478. It was used as the seat of power for nearly 400 years until the Dolmabahce Palace was built (seen off the Bosphorus coastline by boat). The Basilica Cistern was interesting. It was built by Justinian I, the Emperor of Byzantine in 542 in order to meet water needs. I think the structures placed in the Cistern were used to scare folks. The huge head of Medusa is erected upside down (Greek mythology swore she turned onlookers into stone). After our tours, we walked our tired feet a few blocks away to purchase Turkish delight (or lokum), a confection with starch, sugar, pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts, and other stuff. The shop, Hafiz Maustafa has been making the confection since 1864, an Anatolian tradition.
On Saturday, we visited the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum that carried works of art from almost every period and genre of Islamic art with more than 40,000 pieces. Carpets are an important part of Turkish culture. The maker imparts his dreams into the weaving of the carpet. Outside the museum is an obelisk taken from Egypt and erected in 1547 BC for the Pharaoh Thutmose III. Thutmose’s victories are written in hieroglyphs. We headed for a Bosphorus cruise. The cruise was not well organized. We should have planned this one through the hotel with a reputable company. Instead, we let hustlers talk us into buying cheap tickets. We found some of the structures like the Galata Tower, Dolmabahce Palce, Ortakoy Mosque, Maiden Tower, and Eminonu on the little map but most of the time, you couldn’t hear the woman narrating the tour. The boat’s audio system was on its last leg. I gave up and wrote the cruise off as another lesson learned. We did get to videotape a few minutes of the adventure. And, we did see the European and Asian side of Turkey proper.
By nightfall, Sylvia and I headed to the female-only Ayasofya Hamam baths. Again, it is an important part of the Anatolian culture. This ancient tradition of bathing is supposed to help individuals with spiritual and corporal purification. You totally undress in the upper quarters of the bath house and is given a thong to wear. Your skin is softened with hot water by a female attendant for a few minutes before you are taken to a separate marbled area to be scrubbed with a glove which has the consistency of sandpaper. You get to marvel at all the dirt coming from your skin and feel the softness of it. You are taken to another marble slab where you lie on your stomach first and then your back. Aromatic suds are dashed upon you. You are massaged and forget what else happens because you go into a daze of sleep. When I awoke, I was taken to another marble area to be washed clean of the suds and given bath towels to dry off. We took the opportunity to take photos of ourselves in the open area where a beautiful fountain and mirror stood. We were given shampoo, conditioner, and lotion and treated to Turkish delight in a silver dish. This dish was so beautiful; I was inspired to purchase one. I found one at the Arasta Bazaar. The seller stated a price of 120 Turkish Liras (TL). I came back with 65TL. He then countered with 75TL and I said 70TL, and the sale was done. The cost was the equivalent of about $25USD. He was so pleased with the sale that he provided us with Turkish delight.
On Sunday, the group took the Hop-On/Hop-Off Tour. We saw the interior of Istanbul. The Grand Bazaar (Kapali Carci) was our next stop. It is the oldest and biggest indoor bazaar of the world with 60 streets and more than 4,000 shops. I wasn’t too impressed with customer service, so I didn’t feel inclined to buy much. We were disheartened by the terrible attitude of one salesman who was selling tea sets. He asked to see the money in our purses then when we decided we didn’t want any of his ware (we have tea sets at home), he called us cheap MFs and the N-word. I calmly ushered Sylvia away protecting her from that man’s words. I could understand his broken English, but Sylvia did not. Another salesman approached us as we reached the Bazaar’s exit. He informed me that he knows how to make love, but he didn’t use clean words, if you know what I mean. I called out to the men I saw nearby with the word"polis" on their jackets. The man quickly left and had the nerve to mention he sells carpet. What a deranged creature.
Many of the local men wanted to talk, take us out, or take pictures with us, even though we were with our tall travel mate, Kevin (the men thought he was Arab). I decided Istanbul was a place of hustlers, hagglers, and scams (while Sylvia and I were getting our hamam baths, Kevin was involved in a taxi scam. Going to the Aquarium, Kevin was charged 50TL, but coming back he was charged about 100TL. The taxi driver claimed he didn’t know where the popular Blue Mosque was, but Kevin knew and got out of the taxi after a ride around the area). The food was mediocre. This was the first time I wanted to eat at McDonald’s while on travel. We ate a couple of places that provided fine dining, but that was it. We were told the little children that came up to ask us for TL were Syrian refugees. That was sad.
FYI - The national drink Raki tasted like carbonated water. Turkish coffee (served in a very small cup) tasted like a mixture of coffee and bitter chocolate (custom has it that you are supposed to turn your cup upside down, wait for it to cool and have someone tell your fortune. Vehicles have the right of way. I saw one bicyclist get bulldozed for being in the road; we naturally stayed out of the way of vehicles. Watch out for the all the stray cats. If you go to Istanbul, stay along the Bosphorus River to get the view and maybe a little less traffic, but you'll be a little distance from the major tourist areas. I don’t think I will visit Istanbul again. If I decide to go back to Turkey, it will be the resort areas of Bodrum and Izmir, and I’ll use a structured tour schedule. Despite some of the nuisances, Turkey is an amazing place. As my Louis Vuitton Istanbul Travel Guide notes, "Travelers are not ordinary people. Curious, cultivated and demanding, they know that a journey is never insignificant. Such adventures can be fascinating...”
Expands beyond the safety of pages bound by predictability to explore and often confirm exciting creative possibilities. A shimmering collage of memoir, creative nonfiction, literary journalism, and dizzying flights into poetic observation, this is t
