Istanbul

Merhaba from Istanbul! This city is amazing! So much to do, so much to see, and so different than any other port we’ve been to so far.

Day 1: Today was pretty long. My psychology class had a field lab today so the entire day was spent sitting in lectures both on and off the ship (the ships blogger wrote about it: http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyage-blogs/summer-2012/)The lectures dealt with women’s rights in Turkey today and during the Ottoman Empire. It was all very interesting and I learned a lot, but I much rather have spent my day exploring the city. However our teacher, Professor Medora, was kind enough to take us to the Grand Bazaar at the end of the lab and gave us an hour to explore. The Grand Bazaar is like a mall…but bigger, much much bigger! There are over 4,000 shops in the Grand Bazaar, most of them selling Turkish souvenirs like shirts, tiles, glassware, hookahs, etc. There are some name brand stores though selling designer clothing and jewelry, and a few cafes as well. I spent most of the time exploring the place, which was hard to do as the place was absolutely packed and every time you walked by a shop a man would be yelling at you trying to get you buy something. There were some great pickup lines: “how can I take your money” “how can I rip you off today” and my favorite “how can I make you buy something you don’t need”. It was pretty funny. I ended up haggling for a tile painting and a small lamp. The tile painting was originally 120 lira, got it for 60, and the lamp was at first 25 lira but I got it for 10…not a so bad.

                After the Grand Bazaar we stopped at a really nice jewelry/rug shop and got to watch rug show. We went in to this large room that was lined with a cushioned bench and rugs hanging all around. We sat down and were explained why Turkish/Ottoman rugs are the best and most durable in the world (it’s all about the double knot) and showed us how they make them. Next we were served Apple Tea, kinda tasted like apple cider but better, and watched as they began to unroll rugs all over the floor as they explained the differences between each one. All the rugs were very beautiful, but very expensive. A simple one foot by one foot rug cost $158…so I unfortunately was unable to purchase an Ottoman rug.

                Our field lab got back about around 19:00 and I immediately went to my cabin to meet Keenan and Chesely to go out for dinner and drinks. We took the tram to Taksim square, the equivalent of Las Ramblas in Barcelona but much better. A lot more interesting shops, better restaurants, and cheaper beer (Efes is the staple beer around here and is very good but cheap, only 8lira for a liter).It was a good evening and overall good day.

Day 2: Today started early with my SAS trip to Topaki palace and the Harem. The palace was home to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and was like a small city. Parts of the 007 movie From Russia with Love were filmed there, our tour guided pointed out the roof that Shawn Connery ran on. There were a lot of cool displays of Ottoman documents, weapons, armor, clothing, jewelry, gifts, etc. The Harem, where the Sultan housed his some 300 wives, was also really cool and beautiful. The Sultan and his wives lived really well.

                After the tour I met up with Keenan and Chelsey to tour the Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque. All were really cool, but the winner was the Blue Mosque. We go to sit in on a sermon which was the visit I ever go to witness in person. The priest (I don’t know if that is actually his title) sits a story above everyone in this tower like structure. The men sit around him on the floor, barefoot and kind of just lounging back as they listen to the priest talk. The women sit in the back of the mosque behind a white fence that you can barely see through. All very…different. The mosque itself was breath taking. Words can’t describe it and a photo won’t do it justice.

                After that we rushed back to the ship to get ready for dinner that evening. We were meeting Burak around 19:30, my Uncle Conal’s roommate from college who is a native of Istanbul and lives there with his wife and two sons. We walked to the Galata tower and then to Taksim square. Along the way we learned a bit about the city’s history, what there is to see in and around the city, and what there is to do at night in Istanbul. Just before sun down Burak took us into a nice little restaurant by Taksim square on a side street. Side note: right now it’s Ramadan and since the majority of Turkey’s population practice Islam, a lot of people can’t eat until sundown which right now is around 20:40. Anyways dinner with Burak was amazing. So much good food, great conversation, and an overall wonderful time…thanks again Burak for an amazing night. Below is a list of the food we ate. All of which were fantastic:

-Tomato Soup

-Kahn

-Olives

-Spicy Tomato Salad (amazing!)

-Eggplant Salad

-Diced Chicken/Meat with onion, peppers, and tortilla wrap

-Meat Kebab (great spices!!!)

-Turkish Coffee (very good, pretty strong)

-Raki (the drink of Turkey…tasted like black liquorish…pretty awful)

                After dinner we wandered around a bit more with Burak. He got us to try Kokorec, after which we learned was wrapped lamb intestines diced with spices and severed in a roll with onion, tomato, & pepper…kind of gross sounding but actually not that bad of a snack. After a bit more wondering we said goodbye to Burak and thanked him for a wonderful evening. We then proceeded to meet up with Nick and Kindle to go to a roof top bar on by Taksim square. We spent the rest of the night drinking Efes and playing cards.

Day 3: Last night was a late night so I slept a lot today…more than I would have liked. I woke up at 11:00, got some work done on the ship, went for a nice run, and in the evening went with SAS to see a Sufi Dervish Ceremony. It was a very interesting thing to see. The music was great, and the Dervishes were amazing with all there whirling…almost looks as if they were in a trance when doing it. Anyways it was a very interesting and nice thing to do. Defiantly felt more cultured after attending the ceremony.

Day 4: Today started early with my Bosporus by Boat trip. We took a quick bus ride to the port and hopped onto a small boat. We travelled up the Bosporus to the Black Sea. Along the way our guide pointed out the Mosques and Palaces that lined the water, saw the amazing Yasis (mansions) that were all along the water each costing upwards to $25 million, and got to glimpse a family of dolphins heading towards the old city. It was a nice relaxing ride and great to see the city from the water. We got off the boat just before we hit the Black Sea to visit the Sadberk Hanim Museum, a really cool private museum that had all these artifacts from Turkey since the 5^th millennia BC. Pretty sick stuff.

                I got back to the ship around 13:00 and met up with Kindle and Nick to go to the Spice Bazaar. The Bazaar is similar to the Grand Bazaar, but instead of lamp shops and clothing shops the Spice Bazaar has a bunch of spice and tea shops…it’s really neat and it smelling awesome in there. Got some great apple and love tea leaves and a thing of olive oil spice…can’t wait to try it when I get back to the States! We explored the Bazaar for a few hours, got back to the ship around 17:00, went for a good run, ate dinner, and then rested up for my the hike I was going to go on to tomorrow.

Day 5: Another early day. Woke up at 6:00 to go for my hike…glad I didn’t go out last night haha. It was a two hour long bus ride to the start of the hike. We hoped out on the side of some road in the middle of nowhere are just started walking through a cow pasture and headed for the trail. It was an amazing hike! Great trails and incredible sites, it was just awesome! It was a good 5 mile hike. We got back to the ship around 16:00, I went for a good run, and then started writing this post as we sailed away from the port of Istanbul. Next stop Morocco.

P.S. Other very good food in Turkey: -Simit (circluar bread with seaseme seeds) and Nokul (cinnamon pastry)